Former Panthers star DeAngelo Williams, who once called Dave Gettleman a "snake," warned Giants players their new GM can be cold and impersonal.
“He’s your problem now,” Williams told WFAN radio in Minneapolis Tuesday. “That’s exactly what I’d tell them. For the vet players that are there now, be very cautious. Once he gets his guys in there, then he develops that relationship with them, and not developing a relationship with the guys that are already there because he doesn’t know them.”
Williams, who is second in career rushing yards for the Panthers, played nine seasons for the team before Gettleman let him go at the end of 2014. Williams fired off that "snake" comment on Twitter after the Panthers fired Gettleman just before training camp started in July 2017.
Former Panthers stars Steve Smith and Josh Norman also tweeted they were happy to see the team fire Gettleman, even though he'd been widely credited with building the Carolina team that lost to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50. The Panthers went 40-23-1 and won three consecutive NFC South titles in Gettleman's four seasons in Charlotte.
Ironically, there were reports the reason Panthers team owner Jerry Richardson ousted Gettleman is because he seemed reluctant to work out deals to retain popular veterans Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen.
Williams told WFAN that Giants veterans should expect the same treatment from Gettleman, whom the Giants hired on Dec. 28.
“You give everything you can to an organization and the way that they let you go is like, ‘Hey, man, you are outta here.’ They let Steve [Smith] go through a text message. It’s the same thing. You have these GMs that come in and … you’re expendable,” Williams said.