Taking a deeper dive into each candidate before they interview.
As the Carolina Panthers search for a new general manager we will highlight the 10 top candidates in this five-part series.
Dan Morgan – Assistant General Manager/Interim General Manager, Carolina Panthers
This is the name and face that will be most familiar to Panthers fans among the team’s GM candidates. Former linebacker Dan Morgan was Carolina’s first round pick in 2001 and spent his entire seven-year, injury-plagued career with the Panthers. If not for the injuries he likely would have would posted 100-plus tackles every year for the better part of a decade, but he never appeared in more than 13 games in a season. In 2004 he played in just 12 games but racked up 102 tackles and made the Pro Bowl.
After his playing career ended he joined the Seattle Seahawks front office in 2010 and spent several years working in player personnel. He then joined the Buffalo Bills as director of player personnel from 2018 through 2020. Morgan returned to Charlotte in 2021 as the Panthers assistant general manager.
The Panthers website notes that Morgan has worked closely with former GM Scott Fitterer including in recent years including “a trade up for the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft where the team selected quarterback Bryce Young.” Morgan might want to ask the Panthers social media team to scrub that entry from his profile while interviewing for the GM position.
Morgan is currently overseeing personnel decisions for the Panthers as interim general manager and is expected to be among the leading candidates for the job. NBC Sports has previously stated that Morgan “has been considered a rising star in the front office ranks”, so Carolina’s next GM might already be in the building.
From a fan perspective, it would be an awesome feel-good story to see a former player rebuild the team from irrelevancy to playoff contender.
Brandon Brown – Assistant General Manager, New York Giants
Brown is a younger candidate – the Giants website lists him at 35 years old – but his entire professional career has been spent in NFL front offices. In college he was a defensive back at Fordham who then went on to earn his Juris Doctor degree from Barry University.
Early in his career he interned with the New York Jets then spent two years in scouting roles with the Indianapolis Colts. He then spent nearly five years with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2017 to 2022 in scouting roles before being promoted to director of player personnel. In 2022 Brown joined the New York Giants as assistant general manager, which is his current role.
Brown’s young career has been on a rapid upward trajectory. The Panthers aren’t the only team interested in Brown as he’s also being considered by the Los Angeles Chargers.
That said, if he is to take a GM job in this cycle, he’ll need to make sure it’s the right one given his relative lack of experience. The Panthers owner, front office, coaching staff, and roster is a complete mess right now and the new GM will inherit perhaps the most difficult job in the entire league. Owner David Tepper has already cultivated a reputation around the league for being a difficult and meddlesome presence and it would be a big ask for a young GM to navigate that minefield.
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