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david newton
carolina panthers General manager Dan Morgan earned approximately $35 million as a Panthers linebacker from 2001 to 2009. At the peak of his career in 2005 when he signed a five-year, $28 million extension with Carolina, he received a $5 million signing bonus.
so when Seattle Seahawks When he was offered an annual salary of approximately $35,000 to become a Scout in 2010, it was a reality check. But Morgan’s goal was to become an NFL general manager, and he knew the best way to do that at the time was to start at the bottom, as most had done before him.
Morgan said that many former players are unwilling to do so, and that is one reason why only two of the 32 NFL general managers played in the league – Morgan and san francisco 49ers‘John Lynch.
According to ESPN Research, the 30-team NBA has six GMs with pro playing experience, MLB has six of 30 and the NHL has 15 of 32.
Others have been in the NFL, including Super Bowl winner Ozzie Newsome Baltimore RavensBut the pipeline is hardly strong. In 2015, the NFL established the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship, which opens the door to former players interested in scouting but with no formal pipeline to become a general manager.
An unwillingness to work at lower levels may be one reason why some people become GMs, but others believe players may be ready to pursue other paths after devoting most of their lives to football. Other former players may opt for television jobs, as Lynch did.
Morgan’s Panthers (6-5) and Lynch’s 49ers (7-4) meet Monday night at Levi Stadium (8:15 PM ET, ABC/ESPN,
“A lot of people, when they finish playing, they want to spend time with their families [instead of pursuing a front-office job] Because it’s a huge commitment,” Morgan told ESPN during his second year as Carolina’s GM. “And usually you have to start at the bottom, and they’re not willing to do that.
“John Lynch is a little unusual in the sense that he came out of exactly the same [broadcast] Booth. But most of the time you have to work your way up, learn some intricacies before you can be in a situation like this.”
With it also comes a pay-cheque that is a fraction of what they earned as players, and in the long run. The offseason is even busier for them with scouting and draft preparation.
“You have to be willing to do the grunt work,” said buffalo bill General manager Brandon Beane, a former Carolina intern, helped evaluate Morgan when the Panthers made him the 11th pick of the 2001 draft and then hired him as their director of player personnel in 2018.
“Dan was willing to do that.”
other than morgan Lynch, other former NFL players who became GMs, include Newsome, a Hall of Fame tight end (GM of the Ravens, 2002–2018); Cornerback Martin Mayhew (Commanders, 2021-23); linebackers John Dorsey (Chiefs, 2013–17; Browns, 2017–19); Hall of Fame QB John Elway (Broncos, 2011–20); and running back Ryan Carthon (Titans, 2023–24).
“A guy like Ozzy inspires me,” Mayhew said. John Lynch and Dan Morgan are going to inspire other players. You’re going to see other players who look at them and say, ‘Man, this is something I want to do.’”
Lynch hopes more players will follow in his footsteps.
“There has probably been a bias against former players for some time,” Lynch said.[It was,] ‘No, they don’t want to work.’ …This is ridiculous. There’s a reason these people have been successful at things that are actually very difficult to be successful at.
“Not only do you have to be talented, but you have to be an incredible worker and persevere and overcome obstacles.”
Newsom understands. He led the Ravens to Super Bowl victories at the end of the 2000 and 2012 seasons. He began his quest to become a GM as an assignment scout in 1991 cleveland browns Under coach Bill Belichick.
“First of all, many players want to become entrepreneurs after they retire or leave the game,” Newsom said. They have started their own business, and they want to continue the business.
“A lot of them are fed up with football. They’ve been playing it since they were 4 or 5 years old. When your career is over, you just say it’s time to do something else.”
Morgan embraced the hard work of staying involved in football, viewing the process of learning to be a GM the same way he studied tape when he was a player.
“As a former player, you can’t just sit back and sit back,” he said, adding that today’s game requires knowledge of the salary cap and analytics in addition to player evaluation. “There are a lot of moving parts throughout the day.”
Beane is not surprised that Morgan took this approach.
“If there was a fast-track way to do it, there would be a lot more,” he said. “That’s just not the case in the NFL.” …That’s the thing I’ve always admired about Dan. He moved his family to Seattle and started at a low-paying level and put in long hours.
“You watched him do it from a distance. That’s what attracted me to hiring him. Knowing his love for the ball and the work ethic he showed in Seattle.”
could lynch Morgan’s seat with the Panthers was filled until David Tepper won a bid to purchase the team in 2018.
Lynch had talked to Ben Navarro, founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group, who was a finalist to purchase the team from Carolina’s founding owner Jerry Richardson. Lynch and Navarro’s brother, PT, had become close at Fox Sports where PT worked as a producer. He told Lynch that he would be interested in hiring Ben if he got a team.
“I was playing a game in Atlanta, and he flew over and met me,” Lynch recalled.
“And so that was my first entry of, ‘Okay, this could potentially be a reality.'”
Lynch eventually made a cold call to Kyle Shanahan in January 2017 to congratulate him on getting the 49ers head coaching job and broach the idea of the two working together. This was followed by a meeting with Shanahan and San Francisco owner Jed York. Both were so impressed that they made a proposal.
Lynch, who had spent eight years as an analyst for Fox Sports after a Hall of Fame career as a safety, accepted.
The move surprised many in the business as the nine-time Pro Bowler tampa bay buccaneers And denver broncos Had no experience as a scout or NFL personnel.
“I was a little naïve,” Lynch said. “I didn’t really understand what college scouts, their lives and their journey, involved and how much they contribute to it.”
But Lynch successfully applied his experience as an analyst and player to his new role. He helped transform an organization that won two games in 2016, six in 2017 and four games in 2018, to one that won 13 games in 2019 and lost in Super Bowl LIV. kansas city chiefs,
He performed so well that in 2022, shortly after leading San Francisco back to the NFC title game, Amazon reportedly offered him three times his estimated $5 million salary with the 49ers to return to the “Thursday Night Football” broadcast booth.
Lynch turned down the offer to pursue his dream of winning championships as GM, as he did as a player with the Bucs in Super Bowl XXXVII.
He attributes his success in management to the same thing that made him a successful player: work ethic.
Morgan calls this “low ego.”
“People who are just curious, who are always willing to learn, always trying to get better,” he said. “They’re hard workers and they don’t have all the answers.”
when morgan was A rookie in 2001, the Panthers went 1–15. By their third season, they reached the Super Bowl. Carolina finished his first season as GM at 5-12 and, heading into Monday’s game, is tied with the Buccaneers atop the NFC South at 6-5.
Morgan believes that his playing experience has given him “instant credibility” among the players.
“Being able to lead people, direct people, give them direction, that’s part of it,” Morgan said.
“It benefits me in that sense.”
Lynch said he is “very targeted” about the type of player and personality he wants to develop.
“You know exactly what to look for when you’ve been there,” Lynch said. “It’s really important.”
Morgan learned from general manager John Scheider and head coach Pete Carroll in Seattle, but he relied on his experience as a player in 2012 when he recommended the Seahawks draft linebackers. bobby wagner In the second round.
“Being a former player, I probably saw something in him that maybe others didn’t see,” Morgan said of Wagner, a 10-time Pro Bowl selection. “And he obviously turned out to be really good.”
Morgan used the same logic when drafting a pair of edge rushers this year, Nick Skorton and in round 2 Majestic Umanmilen In round 3. He has helped Carolina’s defense go from worst in the NFL to middle.
“As a player, he was just a baller,” Beane said. “He just wanted to show up and lead the defense and hit somebody in the mouth.”
Bean recalled that Morgan once tore his biceps during training during his playing career and did not tell anyone.
“His arm was all black and blue,” he said. “He didn’t want to be taken out, so he wore long sleeves to try to hide it from the rest of the camp. He knew that if the coaches saw it, his season would be over.
“You get some people who are looking for headlines, like how do I get this interview? Dan never cared about that stuff. Dan just wanted his work to speak for itself.”
Morgan and Lynch want to build a championship roster, but they also understand there will be some tough moments, like the Panthers’ 17-7 loss to a one-win New Orleans team two weeks ago.
“Dan is an incredible resource, especially because he’s been a captain,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said. “He’s been a leader and been in the middle of it. So when he looks at things, when he reflects and I sit down and talk to him, I can always pick up that part of his brain that says, ‘How does it make you feel to be on the good teams you’re on?’
“Or dealing with injuries, dealing with off-the-field issues, he’s lived a lot of those things. And his outlook on finding excuses for why things happened rather than trying to find solutions to things is really positive.”
Morgan and other players envisioned parlaying that knowledge into front office careers when they decided the low pay and long hours were worth being a part of big moments like Monday night games.
Morgan talks with as much pride about helping the Seahawks win a Super Bowl as assistant director of pro personnel after the 2013 season as he talks about making a Super Bowl-record 18 tackles for the Panthers in 2003.
“I was mesmerized seeing a dream come to life,” Morgan said. “That was the cool part of me being there, which ultimately made me hungry to sit in this seat.”
ESPN 49ers reporter Nick Wagner contributed to this story.
