For Carolina Panthers fans, the 2014 NFL Combine will always be remembered as the time general manager Dave Gettleman accidentally dropped the first suggestion about the upcoming release of receiver Steve Smith.Before Gettleman meets with the media again in Indianapolis this week, I wanted to recall what other hints he left behind last year. So I re-watched his time at the podium and re-listened to what he later told a smaller group of us on the side.Here was some of the foreshadowing, and why it’s worth paying attention to what Gettleman says this week:Setting the foundation for what the Panthers would, but mostly, wouldn’t do, during the 2014 offseason
“We’re cap-challenged. Last year when we started we were quite a bit over. We had to do some maneuvering to get under before the first day of the league year. The progress we’ve made this year is we don’t have to do any of that, … What we have to do is be very thoughtful in planning our cap, planning our strategy, planning our budget.”
Yup, headline-worthy additions weren’t coming:
“Our free agency is going to be just like last year’s. We’re going to look at guys that we feel have been overlooked that can help us, … If you always go for the immediate instant gratification, you’re going to get burned.”
There were a couple answers on the roster, but many more weren’t:
“Before you run around and panic and whatever, we’ve had these young kids with us. We’ve signed Marvin McNutt, we claimed Tavarres King, we have two kids on our practice squad — Brenton Bersin and DeAndre Presley. So before you panic, you have to look at your roster, trust your evaluation process, and a lot of times your answer’s right there.”
Of course, one answer wasn’t going to be on the roster much longer:
“We’re going through the whole process. Steve’s had a great career, he really has. None of us are here forever. He’s part of the evaluation process.”
At least some help was on the way, and it was in the form most draft experts wouldn’t predict:
“I’m going to tell you right now don’t write that in the draft ‘the Panthers are taking this, this and this.’ I promise you, we’re going to take the best player on the board.”
From drafting the best player available in each round to not overreaching for big-money free agents, Gettleman will play this offseason much like he did the last. But he and the Panthers are now about $10 million below the cap, and they’re ultimately in a much better place than they were a year ago:
“How nice would it be to roll into Indianapolis $25 million under the cap? I’m not saying we’re going to be there tomorrow; we’re not. The point is, if you’re constantly up against the wall, you can’t maneuver.”