SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It stings for the Carolina Panthers to be called a cautionary tale. The foreboding chorus from pundits droned with these familiar tunes: the franchise never recovered from the Super Bowl 50 loss to the Denver Broncos; it regrettably let a top-tier defensive player go; and quarterback Cam Newton went off the tracks. It didn’t help that general manager Dave Gettleman was suddenly and unceremoniously booted out the door eight days before training camp – for reasons that still haven’t been made entirely clear.

By most NFL standards, this isn’t a speed bump. It’s an unraveling. It’s a serious reason for concern. This is what is on recycled interim general manager Marty Hurney’s plate – showing that the 15-1 franchise crest of 2015 wasn’t an outlier, and that last season’s 6-10 flop wasn’t a regression to the mean. That’s what he thinks about every day: the slight course corrections he believes are necessary for the Panthers rather than a 180-degree turnaround.

“The bulk of the work has been done,” Hurney said from training camp earlier this month. “You look at this depth chart and they’ve done a very good job. Not just with playmakers on the front line, but with depth in key positions.”

View photos Cam Newton took a beating in 2016. Carolina hopes better protection will lessen the pain this year. (AP) More

It’s not often you hear the next general manager say that. Especially in a soap opera situation like this. Hurney spent 10 years as the Panthers’ GM (from 2002 to 2012), only to be fired for Gettleman. And when Gettleman was fired, the Panthers went right back to Hurney, the familiar friend who was never further away than a phone call.

That twist has left Hurnery invigorated and thankful, which he should be since he’s taking over a roster that is largely still intact from the 15-1 season of 2015. More often than not, new GMs find themselves in a spot like John Lynch with the San Francisco 49ers, laying the foundation for a multi-season roster churn. Or they’re Brandon Beane with the Buffalo Bills, stockpiling draft picks in exchange for talent. In any other normal situation, the new personnel man is staring at a list of problems that stretches from end zone to end zone, and trying to figure out how many calendar years the fix will take.

Hurney waves a dismissive hand at all of that. To him, the 2017 season is about health and maintenance. Most specifically, the health of Newton, and the positional maintenance around him that will largely determine the difference between a continued slide or a rebound to prominence. That’s what is balancing on Newton’s healing throwing shoulder.

Some of that will hang on – yet again – keeping Newton comfortable in the pocket.

“Quarterbacks are going to get hit in this league,” Hurney said. “Cam is a big target. He will tell you that when he runs the ball, he can avoid hits more than when he’s in the pocket. Obviously his mobility is very good. But it’s not ever just one piece to the puzzle. There’s a lot of different pieces that come together. It’s receivers getting open underneath, giving him weapons. [It’s] having weapons like Christian McCaffrey and Fozzy Whittaker. It’s guys getting outlets. Guys he can get the ball to quickly when he’s getting pressure. But this is also an offense that goes down the field a lot as well. When you’re taking five-step drops and you’re holding the ball more to get the ball downfield, obviously the offensive line has a tougher job protecting and you’re going to get hit sometimes.

“I think everything [has to] kind of come together. You don’t just point to the offensive line or the quarterback or the receivers or whatever it might be. Everything has to come together.”

So what is that harmony supposed to look like for the Panthers? Hurney has an idea, and it will be pinned together by some of the personnel.

First, the team feels very good about the left tackle addition, Matt Kalil. The personnel department believes Kalil is an anchor left tackle and will prove it again this year now that he is finally healthy and playing with a more improvisational quarterback. Thus far, the returns for Kalil have been far more positive than many expected after several rough seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.

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