Just over a week before training camp opens, the Carolina Panthers have no general manager. And no president.
The team that faded from a Super Bowl spot to a losing season in 2016 fired Dave Gettleman on Monday, eight days before the Panthers get down to preseason business. They already were without a team president after Danny Morrison resigned in February.
Owner Jerry Richardson said he made the decision after a long evaluation of the team’s football operations.
The Panthers report to Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., on July 25.
Gettleman was Carolina’s general manager for four seasons. The Panthers were 6-10 last season, a year after losing Super Bowl 50 to Denver.
Bell, Steelers can’t reach long-term deal
Le’Veon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers failed to reach a deal on a contract extension by Monday’s deadline, forcing the team to give him the exclusive franchise tag.
Bell will be paid $12.12 million in 2017, making him the league’s highest-paid running back. Next year, the Steelers can tag Bell again at around $14 million or re-sign him.
Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins and Rams corner Trumaine Johnson also failed to agree on extensions and will play under the franchise tags. Cousins will be paid $23.9 million this season. Johnson will make $16.7 million.
Cowboys’ Elliott linked to bar fight
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, whose behavior is under investigation by the NFL, reportedly has drawn unwanted attention because of an incident Sunday night in a Dallas bar. Dallas police say that they were summoned to Clutch bar at around 9:40 p.m. because a 30-year-old patron said he had been physically assaulted by an unnamed man, which was first reported by a Dallas radio station. The man was taken to a hospital for nonlife threatening injuries and no arrests were made and Elliott was not named on the police report. However, multiple media reports cited sources naming him in what Dallas police said was an ongoing investigation.