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Thursday 11 February 2016

Panthers turn page to 2016 after deflating Super Bowl loss

STEVE REED Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera watches his team stretch during practice in preparation for the Super Bowl 50 football
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina game Friday Feb. 5, 2016 in San Jose, Calif.
(AP) — Dave Gettleman
has been on both ends Associated Press
of the spectrum when it flipped the page forward re-sign free agent corner- Player of the Month this Olsen, linebackers Luke
comes to Super Bowl — to next season.
winning two with the New back Josh Norman (or use season, is under contract Kuechly and Thomas Da-
York Giants as a front office “The truth of the matter is the franchise tag on him), through 2016 but the Pan- vis also got new deals last
assistant and losing on Sun- that you would love to be and whether to release de- thers may look to extend his year.
day as general manager of in position that Denver is fensive ends Charles John- deal before training camp. The Panthers don’t draft
the Carolina Panthers. right now, celebrating, but son and Jared Allen, two Rivera
“This side stinks,” Gettle- acknowledged until 30th overall, but Get-
man said Tuesday. we’re not,” Rivera said. “So potential moves that would the 2016 Panthers will look tleman said in some ways
But Gettleman said the going forward, there are free up more than $19 mil- different than this year’s it will feel like the Panthers
Panthers are in good posi- 30 teams behind us and lion in salary cap space team.
tion moving forward, cit- one in front of us. That’s our combined have a bonus first-round
ing the vast majority of the
team’s core players being “That locker room will never pick because Kelvin Benja-
under contract and the goal - if you want to be the Gettleman refused to be the same,” Rivera said. min, the team’s best wide
fact the team is “not in champs, beat the champs. speculate on those or any “... I was in Chicago with receiver, will be back after
horrible shape” under next We’ve got to start planning other moves, saying he the ‘85 team that went to tearing his ACL last year in
season’s NFL salary cap. and mapping and get- hasn’t evaluated the roster the Super Bowl, and the training camp.
He acknowledged that go- ting ready for next season, and even if he had “I don’t ‘86 team was better sta- Despite Benjamin’s of-
ing 15-1 in the regular sea- which we have.”
son and reaching the Super talk contracts.” tistically but we didn’t win fense, the Panthers still led
Bowl was “very unique,” That begins this week.
but was quick to add that All-Pro fullback Mike Tolbert because we didn’t have the league in scoring — al-
the goal is to get refocused Rivera said he will take will be an unrestricted free that same chemistry in the though they managed just
and next year reach the three days off before he agent and wide receiver locker room. Things are go- 10 points in the Super Bowl.
peak of the mountain. and Gettleman and the Jerricho Cotchery and ing to change.”
“You can’t sit here on your scouting staff get together safety Roman Harper have Some aren’t. Olsen said while he has
laurels because you went
to the Super Bowl and just no clue who will be on the
think you’re going to go to begin discussing the ros- contracts that will void this Cam Newton will be roster next season, he has
back again,” Gettleman ter.
said. offseason. around for a while after faith in Gettleman, who
He’s right. Perhaps the two biggest Defensive tackles Kawa- signing a five-year, $103.8 has gotten the Panthers to
The last seven Super Bowl questions the Panthers nn Short, who was twice million contract extension the postseason in all three
losers have returned to the face is deciding whether to named NFC Defensive last season. Tight end Greg years since his arrival.q
playoffs the following sea-
son, but none have made
it back to the big game.
In fact, the last team to lose
a Super Bowl and make it
back the following year
was the Buffalo Bills, who
did three times in the early
1990s. The last time a team
lost the Super Bowl and
came back to win it all the
following season was the
Miami Dolphins in 1973.
Coach Ron Rivera wants to
change all of that.
Rivera congratulated his
players on a special sea-
son Tuesday before they
packed their bags and
headed out the door, then