Carolina Panthers Angered A Lot Of NFL Teams
The Carolina Panthers angered a lot of NFL teams this past week.
It was no secret that former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule would be very highly sought after following bowl season. What he did with the Bears was remarkable and he justifiably earned a lot of praise for it.
The New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and Panthers were all mentioned as serious contenders for his services. Rhule rejected an interview with Cleveland outright, leaving just New York and Carolina as contenders for his services.
Ultimately, Panthers owner David Tepper opened up his checkbook and signed Rhule to an eye-popping seven-year, $60 million contract. With incentives, that total could get up to $70 million.
Apparently a lot of other NFL owners were not happy with what Tepper did.
An NFC South coach, on Carolina’s 7-year, $60 million contract for first-time NFL head coach Matt Rhule: “Tepper just drove the price of pork up, and I know the owners are pissed. They’re gonna hurt him at the next league meetings. They might just shut him out of the room.”
— Robert Klemko (@RobertKlemko) January 9, 2020
According to Robert Klemko of the Washington Post, owners “are pissed” at the Panthers for driving up the cost of coaches.
“Tepper just drove the price of pork up, and I know the owners are pissed,” a source told Klemko.
“They’re gonna hurt him at the next league meetings. They might just shut him out of the room.”
With his new deal in place, Rhule is suddenly the sixth highest paid coach in the league.
Now that the floor for other first-time NFL coaches has been set, it remains to be seen what that does to the market.
Tepper purchased the Panthers from Jerry Richardson for $2.2 billion in 2018. Prior to that, his only experience as an NFL owner was owning five percent of the Pittsburgh Steelers. As such, he may not be as well versed in the unspoken rules of coaching salaries as other more experienced team owners.
Will the other NFL owners really eventually retaliate against Tepper for the move? We’ll find out soon enough.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
You know what? The other owners can eat shit! Who are they to tell someone how to spend their money. And that quote probably came from an overrated coach Bruce Arians.
Haha. Yes. All of the owners are just butt-hurt.