Potential In-House GM Candidates for the Panthers

Monday morning, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper announced that Marty Hurney would not return as the general manager next season. 

Now that Hurney is officially out, there has to be a search for the next person to replace him. There are definitely some intriguing names that come to mind. Tepper stated in his press conference that the Panthers will not be using a third-party firm for their GM search, so that should be duly noted as well. Since the search is underway, the team might as well begin the search within the organization. Here are three potential in-house candidates who could replace Hurney as the Panthers' new GM:

Samir Suleiman, Director of Player Negotiations 

Suleiman was snagged by Tepper from the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this year and already has experience as an executive. He is a "salary cap manager" who certainly has the X's and O's of financing down pat. Suleiman seems like a trustworthy candidate who Tepper heavily favors since he is his right-hand man.

Pat Stewart, Director of Player Personnel

Another interesting potential in-house candidate is Pat Stewart, Carolina's current director of player personnel. Here's what my fellow SI Panthers writer, Jack Duffy, had to say about Stewart when he was hired as the new director back in May:

Pat Stewart (not the Patrick Stewart who played Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men series) spent the last two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles as the team’s national scout. He spent 10 years with the New England Patriots’ organization (2007-2017) in a variety of roles in their scouting department. Stewart was also part of two Super Bowls during his time in Philadelphia and New England (XLIX and LI).

As the trend continues, Pat Stewart has a history with Panthers coach Matt Rhule, bringing additional continuity and familiarity to the organization. Rhule and Stewart were together at Temple in 2006 when Rhule was their defensive line coach and previously at Western Carolina in 2005 where Rhule was the associate head coach.

Stewart's influence is quite apparent when you look at some of the players who were signed for the 2020 season. This includes Rasul Douglas, Bruce Hector, Marken Michel, and Shelton Gibson, who all came from Philadelphia prior to this season. I could easily see him being promoted to general manager.

Sean Padden, VP of Football Operations

Padden reported directly to Marty Hurney since his hiring earlier this year. What makes this choice interesting is the fact that Padden has worked with Matt Rhule at Albright, Temple, Baylor, and Carolina. Padden worked alongside Matt Rhule for a long time, so it would make perfect sense for him to be the man who fulfills the vision that Tepper and Rhule have for the future of this franchise. There have been murmurs of a general manager being groomed under Marty Hurney before Hurney parted ways with the team, and that GM could be Padden.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top right hand corner of the page. 

Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @PanthersOnSITwitter - @SI_Panthers and Jason Hewitt at @jasonhewitt50