Cam Newton Remains in Play for the Panthers

When the Panthers brought back Cam Newton last season, it was never a long-term play. They gave him the opportunity to not only win the starting job for the time-being but also for the 2022 season if all went well.

Unfortunately for both Newton and the Panthers, the excitement of his return didn't last very long. After filling in here and there in a 34-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Newton was named the team's starter for the next five games. He went 0-5 in those starts. 

It became clear that Newton was not the same quarterback that he once was just a few years ago, which is likely why the Panthers wanted to move in a different direction a couple years back when Matt Rhule first arrived. Despite not having the success that he or the team had hoped would come with his return, GM Scott Fitterer has remained open to the idea of bringing Newton back.

"Matt [Rhule] has talked to Cam. I've reached out a couple of times. He knows where we stand. I think he and Matt had a really good conversation from my understanding, but yeah, we'll see where it goes," Fitterer said in late March. "I think it has to fit both of us. It's not just us saying hey Cam come on back. He's got to want to come back. He's got to like the role, the room, and the situation. The door is open. I'd love to add someone with his leadership, his toughness. He brought so much to this team last year and stabilized it during a really hard time. He's a really special person." 

That tone hasn't changed after the Panthers traded back up into the third round to select Matt Corral. The one thing that Fitterer has remained consistent with is that he wants someone in that QB room who is truly going to push Darnold for the starting job. If we're being honest, Corral isn't ready for that just yet. He's likely going to need to use this year as a "redshirt" to sit, learn, and develop. 

As Jonathan Alexander of the Charlotte Observer recently reported, for the Panthers to bring Newton back, he would need to agree to a smaller salary and understand that he would not enter training camp as the starting quarterback. Why, you may ask? Well, because no one is trading for Sam Darnold and his $18 million contract. That's why. It would be silly to invest even more money into another quarterback who isn't a clear-cut starter. 

From everything that I've heard, the Panthers will continue to look around the market and if other options are made possible, i.e. Baker Mayfield, Jimmy Garoppolo, etc., then Newton would be the team's focus. If anything happens with Cam, it's not expected to happen anytime soon. 

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