The Carolina Panthers have fired general manager Dave Gettleman, the team announced Monday.
The announcement came just eight days before the start of Carolina's training camp in Spartanburg, S.C.
"I want to thank Dave for the role he played in our success over the past four seasons," said team owner Jerry Richardson in a statement on the team website. "While the timing of this decision is not ideal, a change is needed."
A source told the Observer that the firing of Gettleman caught members of the staff by surprise, although a veteran player told the Observer that it was "not a shock."
The Panthers' release did not indicate who would be making the immediate personnel decisions and did not mention a timeline for hiring Gettleman's replacement.
Former assistant general manager Brandon Beane would have been an obvious candidate, but Gettleman's right-hand man left in May to become Buffalo's GM.
Two names to keep an eye on are Trent Kirchner, who works in the Seattle Seahawks' front office, and Ryan Cowden, who is with the Tennessee Titans. Mark Koncz is a possible internal candidate.
The team is likely hire an interim GM rather than feel rushed in deciding on Gettleman's permanent replacement. One possibility for the interim job could be former general manager Marty Hurney, who resigned early in the 2012 season. He still lives in Charlotte and remains well-respected by Richardson.
Gettleman made a series of unpopular moves by cutting ties with veterans in the years after succeeding Marty Hurney in January 2013.
He traded Pro Bowl linebacker Jon Beason to the Giants in 2013, then cut All-Pro wideout Steve Smith before the 2014 season. Gettleman cut running back DeAngelo Williams a year later, then rescinded cornerback Josh Norman's franchise tag in the spring of 2016.
While Gettleman was in charge of the roster for the most successful three-year stretch in franchise history (playoffs-wise), his blunt management style and those aforementioned personnel moves created a divide between players and the front office, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
But Gettleman inherited a salary-cap mess when he was hired and has cleared up the problem, although some of those moves were unpopular as well. Asking star offensive tackle Jordan Gross to take a pay cut is also part of his legacy.
In recent weeks, a pair of Panthers' captains and two of Richardson's favorite players _ linebacker Thomas Davis and tight end Greg Olsen _ made it known they wanted contract extensions.
A team source indicated Gettleman was not interested in giving Olsen a new deal only two years after Olsen received a three-year, $22 million extension, although the feeling inside the organization was that Davis would get at least another year added to his contract before the start of training camp next week.
