A single GM managed to set back 2 NFL teams YEARS

06/06/2025 17:12

The Panthers and Giants are still rebuilding because of one man.

A good general manager can overhaul an NFL franchise. A bad one is capable of doing incredible damage. Today we look back at one man whose negative influence on two organizations was so profound that they're both still recovering from his tenure.

Ask fans of the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants who was the worst GM in team history and they'll give you the same answer: Dave Gettleman.

This was a man who spent a collective nine years running NFL teams (five in Carolina, four in New York) and managed to create myriad problems that are still being felt to this day. From poor coaching hirings and bad drafting, to asserting a football philosophy so outdated it overhauled the roster — Gettleman's shared influence belongs in the league's hall of infamy.

What was Dave Gettleman's history?

An old head in the NFL, Gettleman had been employed by teams since 1986, starting as a scout for the Bills. In 1998 he joined the Giants and spent 12 years as the director of pro personnel under long-time executive Jerry Reese.

This was an era where the Giants had phenomenal success. The team orchestrated the trade for Eli Manning, found Osi Umenyiora as the perfect complement to Michael Strahan, and won two Super Bowls in 2008 and 2012.

When the Panthers hired Gettleman all signs pointed to it being a home run move. Carolina was an organization that had been to the playoffs many times, they had a roster capable of challenging in the NFC — they just needed someone to put it all together and get them over the hump.

It quickly became apparent why Gettleman had been in the NFL for almost 30 years without getting a shot to be a GM.

Dave Gettleman's dinosaur football

From the second he arrived in Carolina it was clear that Gettleman had a very distinct vision of football, and it didn't match anything teams were doing at the time. Rather than preaching speed, positional ambiguity, and modernization, Gettleman was telling the media about how everything came from a position of getting bigger. He called this his love of "Hog Mollies," a termed coined by legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson who used the term to refer to any big, strong, football unit independent of technique.

Gettleman wanted giant guys on the offensive and defensive line, big receivers, and big running backs. This was his football mantra, and immediately he began alienating players on the roster who didn't fit his specific brand of football.

All-Pro left tackle Jordan Gross stunningly retired at age 32 within a year of Gettleman being hired. It wasn't long after that the new GM alienated All-Pro wide receiver Steve Smith before cutting him, and decided not to extend the contract of running back DeAngelo Williams.

In their place he essentially doomed the team. Gettleman refused to get more offensive line help, citing Cam Newton's mobility as a reason the team didn't need help up front, then went all-in on drafting his hand-picked replacements like Kelvin Benjamin at receiver, who was taken for his size without any care regarding his lack of work ethic.

This was very much the same thing he replicated years later in New York. Gettleman made similar football decisions after returning to the Giants in 2018. He alienated and traded Odell Beckham Jr, he allowed the majority of the offensive line to walk, and spent all the team's free agency money on OT Nate Solder, who the new GM loved largely because of his massive frame — despite the fact Solder had slowed down as a veteran.

Draft whiffs galore

Gettleman didn't just make bad personnel decisions with existing players, but he turned screwing up the draft into an art form. The only nice thing to say about his tenure is that the man knew how to pick running backs, with both Christian McCaffrey (Carolina) and Saquon Barkley (NY Giants) being taken under his watch. Outside of the RB position? Well, it was really bad.

In 2014 the Panthers had major offensive line issues entering the draft, especially at the guard position. Drafting at No. 28 the Panthers had their pick of solid players at the position like Joel Bitonio, or Morgan Moses. Instead they took WR Kelvin Benjamin, because Gettleman had just cut Steve Smith.

The next year the Panthers still needed OL help, and once again there were solid players. Laken Tomlinson, Donovan Smith — guys who could help. Carolina took an outside linebacker in Shaq Thompson, who was a good player to be fair, but a total misjudgment of what the team needed.

This just kept happening. Gettleman ignored the line again in 2016, taking DT Vernon Butler who was a complete bust. Germaine Ifedi went one pick later, and he's still a starting OL in the NFL.

Then we go to the Giants, and hoo boy it was even worse with Daniel Jones and Kadarius Toney, and while they were the notable whiffs, the totality of the team's drafts during this time were beyond atrocious. From 2018 to 2021 the Giants made total of 32 draft picks, and 26 of those players are no longer on the Giants, with nine of them being so bad they're no longer in the NFL on any team. These were drafts that were conducted fewer than 10 years ago.

Repairing the damage

The Carolina Panthers went through their own unique hell after Dave Gettleman because of missteps by owner David Tepper, but the horrific drafting in particular set the team up for failure for years. It's impossible to know what Carolina could have been, because Gettleman in particular is directly responsible for shortening Cam Newton's career.

Newton was sacked 35-plus times in every season Gettleman was the GM. At no point was any effort made to protect him. This contributed to injuries which changed Newton's playstyle and made him worried to run, which was a core part of his game. At this point we were robbed of seeing him flourish in the NFL.

Meanwhile the Giants are still recovering from Gettleman's impact four years after he left the team. The organization tried to make Daniel Jones work, which failed — and now they're moving forward with a new quarterback for the first time since he left in Jaxson Dart. We'll see how that pans out.

More importantly the lack of talent on the roster turned the Giants into one of the worst teams in the NFL. By not being able to even leave the team with starting-caliber players, Gettleman cost the team any chance of being effective in the near future. The Giants have had to trade for players, slowly rebuild through the draft, and hope picks pan out.

So is the legacy of Dave Gettleman, a beloved football figure inside NFL circles — but one of the worst general managers to ever run two teams into the ground.