SAN FRANCISCO – Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has been impressed with the two different methods that the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers have used to build their teams and reach the Super Bowl.
Denver’s John Elway, the team’s executive vice president of football operations/general manager, has heavily used free agent to make the Broncos Super Bowl-ready.
Carolina’s Dave Gettleman his leaned on a solid foundation built by former general manager Marty Hurney and has made some nice move to accentuate what was already on hand, including not firing coach Ron Rivera.
“I admire his approach,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said of Elway. “He has a very good understanding about free agency. He works and he’s got some really good personnel men around him. He makes some strong decisions on when he wants to pay money and when he does not. There have been times when he’s passed on (paying).”
Elway didn’t keep wide receiver Eric Decker and defensive end Elvis Dumervil. He replaced Decker by signing wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and Dumervil by signing DeMarcus Ware.
“He’s very good,” Dimitroff said. “Just like Dave Gettleman, he’s very good at what he does. I respect both of those guys.”
Here’s the story on how the Broncos and Panthers were built.
