Hours after the Carolina Panthers fired General Manager Dave Gettleman, former Panthers linebacker Jon Beason revealed that Gettleman had accused him of faking an injury prior to his being traded to the New York Giants during the 2013 season.

Beason, the team's first-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft and three-time Pro Bowler, told Charlotte radio station WFNZ that while he was "shocked" by the Panthers' decision to fire Gettleman, he believed that the move by the team brought everything back "full circle" for himself.

"The way that the trade went down between the Giants and the Panthers when I moved on from the Carolina Panthers, it was done in a way that wasn't classy," said Beason. I didn't want to be the disgruntled player who's saying this, saying that because he was traded. But at the end of the day, you're a first-round pick, you played extremely well for an organization, you're one of the key guys on the team, a new GM comes in and doesn't even give you a handshake on your way out the door."

As Gettleman replaced former GM Marty Hurney in 2013, Beason was rapidly declining from his Pro Bowl form. A series of injuries and the emergence of Luke Kuechly had cost him his position at Middle Linebacker, and early in the season, he found himself challenged by the team's new regime.

"Having not known me coming in, I was coming off of microfracture surgery, and I had to sit down with this guy and explain what was going on...He says verbatim 'Come on Jon, you know nothing's wrong with your knee'. I didn't like that he was challenging my character. At that point, we didn't have a great relationship."

After the Panthers fell to a 1-2 start to begin the season, Beason was traded to the New York Giants prior to the team's match against the Arizona Cardinals. When he was notified of what was going on by coach Ron Rivera, Beason shared that he was instructed to leave "out the back door" by Rivera and was not even allowed to go back to his locker.

"I still to this day have yet to speak to [Gettleman]. And that's why the level of respect is where it is. There's no ill will...When you come out and you say these things, people think that you're just another disgruntled player. So, at that point you move on and you wish them well."

Beason toiled on through three injury-plagued seasons with the Giants, playing in only 18 games between 2013 and 2015 before retiring after the 2015 season. However, he has kept his ear close to the ground concerning the Panthers, and provided insight into what he had been told about the situation between Gettleman and the organization.

"There's the disconnect with the way he treats the players. There's disconnect between ownership. Knowing Big Cat, Jerry Richardson, the owner of the Panthers, he's a guy who will not be dictated to at all. He's very fair. I know that when it comes to being general manger, he wants those guys to just go do their thing. But when he has to step in, at some point, there has to be a level of respect there on both parties. And it can't be, "Hey listen, I'm the GM. I'm running it this way. If you don't like it, let me go.'"

"There's guys that are on that team, in that locker room, that basically felt like this is who Gettleman was and he was almost on this ego trip."