The Titans have parted ways with vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson, the team announced on Twitter. “This was not an easy decision and I want to thank Lake for his time with the team,” general manager Ruston Webster said. “This new structure will help us streamline things from both the college and pro perspectives. We will move forward without a VP of Player Personnel and the college and pro sides will report directly to me.” It’s a bit surprising that Tennessee would fire Dawson, who’s been with the club since 2007, as he’s been in high demand around the league — he had interviewed for the GM posts in Miami, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Chicago.
Let’s look at some more notes from the South divisions:
- Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis is looking forward to seeing what GM Dave Gettleman and the front office can do this offseason to improve Carolina’s roster, as he tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. Gettleman recently said the Panthers would be moving out of the “dollar store” this winter, and Davis was “very encouraged” by those comments. “It’s going to be interesting to see how things go this offseason,” Davis said. “We’ve had two offseasons where we didn’t do a whole lot in free agency. But we’ll see what happens this year.”
- With a new head coach set to be introduced next week and a front office that has undergone some changes this month, it’s not entirely clear who will have the final say on certain football decisions in Atlanta. Speaking to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com, Falcons owner Arthur Blank repeatedly stressed that he expects most football matters to be collaboratively decided by Dan Quinn, Thomas Dimitroff, and Scott Pioli. Quinn and Dimitroff will report separately to Blank, while Pioli will report to Dimitroff.
- Asked today on The Jim Rome Show about what went wrong for the Saints in 2014 and how it can be addressed for 2015, quarterback Drew Brees pointed to an unusual amount of roster turnover, particularly involving core players: “It’s about getting back to building our organization and framework from the ground up again and make sure we are on the same page” (link via NewOrleansSaints.com).