Why Is Cam Newton Still Without a Team?
The NFL Draft came to a close, bringing in plenty of new talent to the league’s 32 franchises over the weekend. There were also a slew of undrafted free agents that signed deals over the last few days, adding more names to the mix for the offseason roster and potential practice squad spots. With that said, there are still some big names on the veteran free agent market that have yet to find new teams to land with in 2020. A pair of quarterbacks that are former first overall picks are still on the market. While Jameis Winston is widely expected to sign a one-year deal with the Saints to back up Drew Brees in the Big Easy, there is another big name looming that hasn’t found a place to land quite yet.
Cam Newton, who was the first overall pick back in the 2011 NFL Draft and has spent his entire career with the Panthers, is still on the market. He was released by Carolina on March 24 and has yet to find a new team to take him on at this point. In an offseason where Nick Foles was traded to Chicago, Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay from New England and Philip Rivers left the Chargers for the Colts, Newton is still out on the market as we prepare to flip the calendar to May. To quote Kenan Thompson’s character Diondre Cole from Saturday Night Live, “What Up With That?” Let’s take a look at some of the potential reasons why Newton is still on the market.
Injury Issues: Let’s be honest: when you play a physical style of quarterback like Newton does, injury concerns have to be taken into consideration. Newton dealt with a shoulder injury in 2018 that cost him the final two games of the season and required surgery. Last year, he played in only two games as he dealt with a Lisfranc injury in his foot that required surgery and left the Panthers in turmoil. It also led to the firing of coach Ron Rivera and the shuffling of the roster. Instead of Newton under center in Carolina, it will be Teddy Bridgewater.
Now, the possibility that Newton is healed and ready to go is there. The fact remains that he missed the majority of last season and there is a lack of medical evaluations done to verify his status thanks to the coronavirus. It’s unlikely that a team is going to want to throw a bunch of money around for a guy that they can’t be sure of is ready to go. Carolina went by his word last season and saw Newton finished after week 2 against Tampa Bay.
Desire to Be a QB1: Of course, every guy that comes into the league wants to be a starter. According to Ian Rapoport, Newton still wants to be a starter in the league. The reality of that is, there are only so many starting jobs to go around. At the QB position, there are 32 and if you aren’t a good fit, it’s going to be a challenge to find one. At least three-quarters of the teams in the league had solid starting QB options going into the offseason. The Colts (Rivers) and Buccaneers (Brady) addressed their need via free agency while the Bengals (Joe Burrow), Dolphins (Tua Tagovailoa) and Chargers (Justin Herbert) all executed top-six picks to secure their top option for the future.
There are still a couple shaky spots around the league. Jacksonville has Gardner Minshew II atop the depth chart but he has to prove that he can put it together again after stepping in for the injured (and now departed) Foles last season. New England has Brian Hoyer as the lone veteran alongside Jarrett Stidham plus undrafted free agents J’Mar Smith and Brian Lewerke. However, the Patriots are cap-strapped and, according to Jeff Howe from The Athletic, the team has no interest in bringing him in at this point in time. That leaves him with backup options at best, barring some sudden change of events.
Salary Factors: Much like Andy Dalton, who wasn’t moved by Cincinnati during the draft but is sitting on their roster mainly due to the fact that a team wouldn’t want to take on his $17.5 million contract, Newton faced a similar situation. He was in the final year of a five-year, $103 million deal and the Panthers cleared $19.1 million in cap room by cutting him loose. Most teams aren’t going to throw anywhere near that kind of money at a guy that is destined to be the backup QB on their roster. He’s going to have to take a contract similar to Winston, a one-year deal at a reduced rate, in order to catch on somewhere and potentially rejuvenate his career. Barring that, he’ll be facing an uphill climb to catch on somewhere.
System QB: Much like the situation with Winston, one has to wonder if Newton is a system QB. His style of play, with the scrambling and RPOs, is only a major factor with specific systems in place. Most of those teams, like Buffalo and Baltimore, have younger quarterbacks in place to run their offenses. There is concern that Newton may not have as much success running the offense in a different system. Especially given the fact that the offseason is likely going to be truncated, that concern could potentially be a reason that he remains unsigned to this point in time. Teams just aren’t willing to take a chance, especially when you factor in the other reasons we previously touched on here.
As for where Newton could land, well, for those of you hardcore bettors, there are numbers for that. Odds had New England at +400 entering Sunday but moved to a -190 favorite by Tuesday. Jacksonville is next in line at +300 with Pittsburgh (+750), Denver (+1000), Chicago (+1100), Las Vegas (+1500) and Washington (+1500) next in line. As for when he might land somewhere, well, that’s up for debate at this stage.
