Washington Adds Another Panthers Ex To Rivera-Led Staff

Not that there was any question about it, but Ron Rivera just put another stamp on the Washington Football Team and the way things will be run.

Things will be run much like they once were in Carolina.

The WFT is hiring former Carolina Panthers executive Bryan Porter to serve as the team’s director of football operations, as first noted by the Washington Post.

The Washington Football Team is now crowded with front-office personnel who have a history of having served - and won - alongside coach Rivera in his days in Carolina.

Porter, who was let go by the Panthers in January (largely because their first-year coach, Matt Rhule, is putting his same sort of stamp on that organization by influencing the hiring of his people), is the latest former member of the Panthers staff to join Rivera in D.C.

Among those, the most notable: The team hired former Panthers GM Marty Hurney in January, at one time considering making him GM here before giving Hurney the title of "Executive Vice President of Football/Player Personnel'' along with hiring Martin Mayhew as the GM.

Mayhew does not have previous ties with Rivera but of course has experience as a GM and previous ties with Washington as a standout player here.

Porter started with the Panthers in 2001, working an intern before moving up the chain to his last role as director of football operations for the team. He will take the place of Paul Kelly, who was recently dismissed by the WFT in a sweep of some front-office and staff workers who preceded Rivera in Washington.