Panthers interim GM Marty Hurney's contract "runs through" June '18, but that does "not mean Hurney will definitely remain in that position until then," according to a source cited by Jourdan Rodrigue of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Hurney will still be "instrumental in the search" for a new Panthers GM. The timeline of that search "remains undisclosed, so Hurney must also make normal draft preparations with the scouting staff and front office as the season continues" as any GM would. Hurney has "maintained publicly that his position is temporary" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/2). PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Darin Gantt noted Hurney "wouldn't comment on the terms of his contract and the team declined comment as to his tenure." But Hurney has "spent his recent weekends on college campuses, which suggests he's preparing for next year's draft and not lining up interviews with potential replacements." When Hurney was hired in July to replace former GM Dave Gettleman, it was to "get the team through the year, and part of his job description was to help the team identify" a permanent GM for '18. But while the "perception was that he'd be looking for someone to run the next draft, that's not the way the deal was written." Hurney was the team's GM from '02-12 before being fired (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 11/1).
BACK TO THE FUTURE? In Charlotte, Scott Fowler wrote trading WR Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills midseason is the "sort of bold move that a guy with the word 'interim' in his title rarely makes." This "'for the future' sort of move" would imply Hurney has been "promised he will become the team's permanent GM once this season ends." But Hurney said that the trade did "not mean that and that he doesn't know what will happen after this season." Hurney: "This is not related to the length of time I will be in this job at all, whatever amount of time that is" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/1).
