Panthers GM Scott Fitterer speaks: Takeaways on quarterback situation, free agents
Carolina Panthers GM Scott Fitterer will be part of the process in finding the franchise’s next head coach.
On Monday, Fitterer spoke for the first time since the Christian McCaffrey trade in October. During his chat with the media, Fitterer avoided answering questions about the head coaching search, noting that some of the names that have been floated in the rumor mill aren’t actual possibilities.
“I don’t really want to comment on it, just because we need to let the process play out,” Fitterer said. “There’s a lot of rumors out there. A lot of names being thrown around — some right, some wrong — so just not going to get into that right now.”
When discussing interim head coach Steve Wilks’ 6-6 tenure, Fitterer was complimentary but guarded. Fitterer, who will be a lead figure in a head coaching search for the first time in his career, wanted to avoid any comments that would limit the Panthers’ ability to land their ideal candidate.
“It’s not going to be a large group,” Fitterer said about the candidate list. “We’re not going to get too far into that — but it’s not going to be large.”
Along with his tamed musings on the search, Fitterer offered evaluations of his roster, gave his thoughts on the future and touched on the offseason task list.
Below are five takeaways from Fitterer’s conversation with the media:
Fitterer champions resiliency
Fitterer started the press conference by praising the players, coaches, trainers and equipment staff that performed admirably following the firing of former head coach Matt Rhule.
Following Rhule’s firing at 1-4, the team bounced back under Wilks. The Panthers finished 7-10, their best win total since 2019 — and contended for the division title until a Week 17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“It was a long year, it was a trying year, and they went through a lot — but they never wavered,” Fitterer said. “This is probably one of the most resilient teams I’ve been around.”
Fitterer also made sure to praise Wilks for his coaching performance down the stretch.
“He’s done a nice job,” Fitterer said. “Out of respect for the process, again, I don’t want to get too far into it. But the team was 1-4, and where we finished (at 7-10), the guys kept fighting. A lot of credit to Steve, a lot of credit to the team for that.”
Head coach search first, QB search second
Fitterer wasn’t eager to drop hints about the coaching search or his quarterback search. But he clearly has a logical order to how he wants to attack things.
“As far as the future of that (QB) room, we have to decide who the head coach is first,” Fitterer said. “That’ll play a lot into that.”
While he was encouraged by Sam Darnold’s performance down the stretch, Fitterer played coy on the veteran quarterback’s future. Darnold is set to become a free agent in March.
“You could see the progress in Sam Darnold this year,” Fitterer said. “He showed more confidence, more patience in the pocket. So, that was a good thing.”
In regards to rookie quarterback Matt Corral, who was sidelined all season with a Lisfranc injury, Fitterer offered an optimistic take on his future.
“We took him for a reason,” Fitterer said. “We took him because we liked him, and he worked all year — like he was in the meeting room, studying with the players. He had the ear piece on at practice. Unfortunately, because of his foot, he couldn’t be on the field throwing the ball or doing those types of things, so we only saw him in OTAs and training camp. But it’ll be good to get him out there. We’re excited about his future.”
Despite Fitterer’s positive remarks on Darnold and Corral, the GM admitted the Panthers need to find a long-term answer at quarterback.
“We don’t want to force that,” Fitterer said. “But, eventually, we do need a guy that we need to draft and develop. We need someone who is homegrown that is going to be here for a long period of time. Whether that’s Matt, or that’s Sam — who is still a young quarterback — or someone else, we’re going to keep all of our options open and do what’s best for the team.”
Starting guards have long roads to recovery
The Panthers lost left guard Brady Christensen (ankle) and right guard Austin Corbett (knee) during the 10-7 season-finale win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
On Monday, Fitterer confirmed that Corbett tore his left ACL, while Christensen fractured his left ankle.
Both players were seen in the locker room on clean-out day. Christensen’s foot was heavily wrapped and he moved around the locker room on a scooter that lifted his left leg with underneath support. Corbett limped around the locker room with a brace around his left knee.
While Christensen will likely return at some point in the offseason, Corbett’s recovery timeline will put him on the field around the start of 2023 regular season, Fitterer said.
Rookie Cade Mays replaced Corbett at right guard in the second half of the win against the Saints and played well.
Prior to that limited spotlight on the right side of the line, the sixth-round pick had lined up almost exclusively at fullback throughout the second half of the season.
“To put a big guy like that in the backfield, just shows the type of athlete he is,” Fitterer said about Mays. “It’s so hard for a 315-pound guy to adjust on the run like he does. And then yesterday was sort of a blessing in disguise. You hate any injury, especially to Corbett, who is an awesome guy. But to see what Cade did when he came in, the movement he got at the line of scrimmage, the physicality that he played with, a guy that hasn’t taken a lot of reps with that group and the way he communicated with them. ... That’s a great sign.”
Bozeman part of ‘our future’
While Corbett and Christensen’s respective campaigns ended on disappointing notes, center Bradley Bozeman’s stock surged.
Bozeman, who signed a one-year deal with the team in March, was the linchpin to the team’s ground-and-pound success in the second half of the season under Wilks.
On top of dominating in the run game, Fitterer acknowledged Bozeman importance for the quarterback as well.
“He’s one of the bigger centers in the NFL,” Fitterer said. “He’s very physical and what he does, he takes a lot off the quarterback’s plate, as far as line calls and managing the line up front.”
Bozeman is set to become a free agent again this offseason. Fitterer said he wants to see Bozeman return next season.
“Bozeman was a great addition,” Fitterer said. “Really happy about him. We had a good talk this morning about his future ... He’s a guy that we would like back, I think that he wants to be back, and he’s part of our future.”
Run game emerges after CMC trade
When asked to re-evaluate the McCaffrey trade from October, Fitterer heaped effusive praise on the now-San Francisco 49ers running back.
But with D’Onta Foreman breaking out with 877 rushing yards and five touchdowns since the deal went down, and Chuba Hubbard taking the next step in his development, Fitterer was encouraged by the play of the backfield.
“The way the running backs stepped up says a lot about them,” Fitterer said. “D’Onta Foreman had a great year. Chuba really came on from where he was at last year. This year, he showed a lot of patience as a runner and showed more power.”
Along with Foreman and Hubbard, Fitterer praised rookie Raheem Blackshear, who was plucked off the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad in September.
“That was a great pickup,” Fitterer said. “He’s a different, unique piece out of the backfield.”
Foreman, who is set to test free agency in March, is likely to land a big raise on the open market.
Fitterer hinted that he wanted Foreman back, but held back on outright claiming the desire for a reunion ahead of a future negotiation.
“We had a good talk about (the future),” Fitterer said about Foreman. “There are certain guys that we would like that back. You don’t want to put too much out there but, obviously, with the way he ran, he’s a been a nice addition to us.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2023 at 4:00 PM.
