CHARLOTTE – The Panthers gave Scott Fitterer the chance to use the eighth overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
He may not know what to do with something so high in the order.
But he has certainly shown that over the years he can help build a championship organization in various ways.
When the Panthers presented the general manager to the Seahawks’ vice president of football operations on Thursday, they identified a reviewer of a leading program that helped Seattle build a stable foundation.
And although the Seahawks have recently become known for a penchant for trading in the order as any particular player they took, Fitterer worked when they put together a champion, primarily through concept.
Their 2012 class was, quite simply, the kind of group you build concessions on, as they acquired the cornerstones of the team that won the 2013 Super Bowl XLVIII after the 2013 season.
They picked their first round for pass-rusher Bruce Irvin, who has been a good forward throughout his career. The next two choices helped define them for almost a decade.
To get linebacker Bobby Wagner in the second round and fullback Russell Wilson in third place provided the leaders on either side of the ball that the Seahawks have been carrying ever since.
Seattle have just signed quarterback Matt Flynn into the free agency that was out of season, and the $ 26 million three-year contract indicated they plan to start (and play well).
But Wilson was a player who never took it for granted that he would wait his turn, and of course the Seahawks made the right move by choosing the 75th overall immediately for their starter.
Since then, the Seahawks have not picked higher than 27th in the draft. This is partly because of their willingness to trade back to collect assets, but it is also because they were so good.
The Seahawks have reached the playoffs in the last nine seasons, and their 9-7 record in 2017 was the low water mark of the run. They have been 98-45-1 for the past nine seasons.
This is the kind of sustained success the Panthers are looking for, having never enjoyed rugby matches in 26 years, with a record of 200-215-1.
The addition of someone from a successful organization was clearly part of Mr David Tepper’s plan, as the other three finalists for the task were from the Chiefs, Titans (by way of the Patriots) and 49ers (by way of the Broncos and Patriots).
But the collaboration was also an important part of what Tepper envisioned, with 47-year-old Fitterer and 45-year-old head coach Matt Rhule in the position to contribute a promising young core to the defense.
If anything, Fitterer’s time in Seattle should illustrate that he is not rigid or locked up in his own silo of expertise.