Cam Newton is still without a team and while that’s surprising, what’s even more surprising is that people seem to feel like he’s going to be relegated to backup duty for the rest of his career.
Cam Newton has been a free agent for roughly a month. This, while Andy Dalton only spent a few days on the open market before landing with the Dallas Cowboys. Newton might not be a starter from day one this year, but for people to think he’s done as a starter is asinine.
Newton is probably on the downslope of his career, but even then he’s still better than a good chunk of the quarterbacks we see on a weekly basis. Just four years ago, Newton led the Panthers to a 15-1 record and an NFC Championship title.
That was Newton’s best year of his career and it came five years after the Panthers spent the No. 1 overall pick on him in 2011. Since then, he’s dropped off, but has still been a good enough quarterback to win games.
In 2018, he missed two games (both at the very end of the year due to injury and because Carolina was out of the playoff hunt) and threw for just shy of 4,000 yards along with 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and four rushing touchdowns.
The year prior, Newton threw for a little more than 3,300 yards and the Panthers made the playoffs, but it showed they were still a playoff-caliber team. The team floundered this past year without Newton under center, and while nobody blames the organization from moving on, to think Newton won’t be a starter again is lunacy.
Right now, there are two potential teams who he could find his way into the starting job: the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots.
Both appear to be rolling with young quarterbacks who don’t have a ton of pro experience and Newton being their backup before then taking over as QB1 wouldn’t surprise.
Newton has suffered injuries the past few seasons, but in no way is his NFL career over.