It remains to be seen if general manager Marty Hurney will again pull the trigger on a trade this weekend. When he does, it is usually the Panthers who get relief from his itchy finger.
Linebacker Jon Beason, center Ryan Kalil, tackle Jeff Otah, and cornerback Chris Gamble are starters who have come to Carolina via draft day maneuvers by Hurney. Linebacker James Anderson and defensive end Everette Brown could join that list this season.
Overall, Hurney has made 11 draft day trades as general manager of the Panthers. He has moved up (Gamble), moved back (Beason), and moved ahead (future number ones for Brown and Otah).
More often than not he has multiplied draft choices on draft day. That started his first year as general manager in 2002 by trading down six places with Cincinnati in the third round and coming away with linebacker Will Witherspoon plus a fifth round pick.
In 2007, the Panthers moved back eleven places in the first round to get an additional second round choice and were still able to get Beason in the first and added Kalil with the additional pick in the second. Both were in the Pro Bowl last February.
Late in the draft a year ago there was a move that may not have looked significant at the time when the Panthers gave Oakland their 2009 sixth round pick in exchange for the Raiders' seventh later that year and sixth in 2010. That seventh last year was used for Captain Munnerlyn, who became Carolina's nickel back and punt returner as a rookie, and the sixth will come into play Saturday.
Then he has gone the other way, using two fourth round choices and a seventh to move into the third round in 2003 to take Ricky Manning, Jr. Manning made one of the biggest plays in franchise history with his overtime interception at St. Louis to set up Carolina's game winning drive in the NFC Divisional game. A week later he had three interceptions in the NFC Championship win at Philadelphia.
The next year, Carolina used a fourth round choice again to move up three spots (31st to 28th) to get Gamble in the first round. It has turned out to be a worthy gamble.
Manning was eventually signed by Chicago as a restricted free agent and the Panthers received a third round pick as compensation which was used on Anderson. He ably stepped in for the injured Thomas Davis last year and is a potential starter this season with the loss of Na'il Diggs.
If Hurney has been adept in his draft dealings, maybe it is because he learned under one of the best in former Redskins and Chargers general manager Bobby Beathard. First covering Beathard as a reporter for the Washington Times and later working with him as an assistant general manager, Hurney learned how to pull the trigger on a deal.
With the Panthers on the clock he could be firing away - again.
