“In on every deal” has become the new “missed opportunities” amongst Carolina Panthers fans. But that latest motto, fortunately, is much more encouraging than the latter.
General manager Scott Fitterer has abided by his promise of being particularly diligent in the trade market rather well thus far. Since being hired for the position on Jan. 14, the first-year shot-caller has now made a total of 11 trades, the same amount the franchise had completed in the previous three seasons combined.
Here’s the list of what Fitterer has acquired through his first nine months:
- April 5: Quarterback Sam Darnold from the New York Jets for a 2021 sixth-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2022 fourth-round pick
- April 28: 2021 sixth-round pick from the Denver Broncos for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater
- April 30: 2021 second-round pick (No. 52 overall), 2021 third-round pick (No. 83) and 2021 sixth-round pick (204) from the Chicago Bears for 2021 second-round pick (No. 39) and 2021 fifth-round pick (No. 151)
- April 30: 2021 second-round pick (No. 59) and 2021 third-round pick (No. 89) from the Cleveland Browns for 2021 second-round pick (No. 52) and 2021 fourth-round pick (No. 113)
- April 30: 2021 third-round pick (No. 70) from the Philadelphia Eagles for 2021 third-round pick (No. 73) and 2021 sixth-round pick (No. 191)
- May 1: 2021 fourth-round pick (No. 109), 2021 fifth-round pick (No. 158) and 2022 fourth-round pick from the Houston Texans for 2021 third-round pick (No. 89)
- May 1: 2021 fourth-round pick (No. 126), 2021 fifth-round pick (No. 166) and 2021 seventh-round pick (No. 232) from the Tennessee Titans for 2021 third-round pick (No. 109)
- Aug. 17: 2022 seventh-round pick from the Miami Dolphins for offensive tackle Greg Little
- Aug. 25: 2022 sixth-round pick from the Las Vegas Raiders for linebacker Denzel Perryman and 2022 seventh-round pick
- Aug. 26: Kicker Ryan Santoso from the New York Giants for 2022 seventh-round pick
- Aug. 30: Defensive end Darryl Johnson from the Buffalo Bills for 2022 sixth-round pick
Phew! Let’s take a breather.
Ok . . .
While exciting (to a degree), this doesn’t mean being that active will ultimately skyrocket the Panthers into success. It does mean, though, that the team has a transparent general manager who’s willing to exhaust quite a few options in fulfilling his vision.
And, since we were talking about breathers, Fitterer has been a nice breath of fresh air for an organization who had come off as relatively complacent over nearly their entire existence.
