Panthers Make Surprising Cam Newton Comments
The Panthers made surprising Cam Newton comments this week.
Newton, 30, finds himself in a bit of an odd situation.
Generally speaking, veteran quarterbacks on losing teams are the ones that demand to be sent elsewhere. They are usually uninterested in spending their twilight years in rebuilding situations.
Newton is not cut from that cloth. In every interview he has done over the past few years, he has repeatedly expressed his desire to remain in Carolina for as long as the Panthers will have him.
Unfortunately, the Panthers do not seem to feel the same way.
The team seems to want to start anew. This is evident by the way that Ron Rivera was fired at the end of last season and replaced with Baylor standout Matt Rhule.
It is also clear based on how Rhule went out and recruited a fresh face in Joe Brady to be his offensive coordinator.
The big question now becomes: what will the Panthers do with Newton?
The former NFL MVP missed all but two games in 2018 with injury. Then the exact same thing happened in 2019.
Dave Tepper asked about Cam Newton situation following today’s community event: “I’ve said again and again, it’s a question of how healthy he is. That’s the No. 1 overwhelming thing. Everything comes from that.”
— Max Henson (@PanthersMax) February 11, 2020
Last season, before going out with injury, Newton threw for 572 yards, no touchdowns and one pick.
The big issue Carolina is currently facing in replacing Newton is that there is no heir apparent on the roster.
Backup Kyle Allen came in after Newton’s injury and did reasonably well to start the year. Unfortunately, he quickly returned to Earth and was ultimately benched in Week 16’s showdown versus the Indianapolis Colts in favor of West Virginia’s Will Grier.
With neither Allen nor Grier being particularly impressive, moving on from Newton is not as easy a prospect as it should be.
Recently team owner David Tepper spoke out about Newton’s situation and he was very blunt about it.
“I’ve said again and again, it’s a question of how healthy he is,” he said.
“That’s the No. 1 overwhelming thing. Everything comes from that.”
A month or so back, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported that Carolina’s plan was waiting for Newton to get healthy and then trading him.
The Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers have all been mentioned as potential trade partners, but so far none of them have been confirmed.
If the Panthers do end up trading Newton, they have the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to work with.
LSU quarterback Joe Burrow and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa will almost certainly be off the board by the seventh pick, but Oregon star Justin Herbert may still be around. And given how well he performed at the Senior Bowl a week ago, that actually would not be a bad fallback option to have if you are the Panthers.
One way or another, Carolina’s quarterback situation will resolve itself before the start of next season. Whether or not Newton will be part of it is the big question that remains in the air.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
