Carolina first moved on from Cam Newton in 2020 when they cut the former face of the franchise. They brought him back into the fold yesterday with a one-year deal that guarantees him $4.5M and could escalate to $10M with incentives.
Good for Cam. He was on a $1.5M deal with New England before he got cut, with a bonus that is costing New England $3.5M against their cap. He did not have any other meaningful opportunity to return to the NFL (Seattle briefly kicked the tires on Cam) and parlayed it into more money, and potentially a lot more money.
The fun part of the story is that Cam is getting his, but the Panthers are still paying the two quarterbacks that they brought in to replace him…
Teddy Bridgewater is now the starter for the Denver Broncos. He is costing the Panthers $17.5M in dead money to not be their quarterback.
Sam Darnold is hurt — and playing like shit when he isn’t hurt — and he is costing them $4.7M against the cap this year. And, oh, another $18M next year.
This week the Panthers will start PJ Walker, his second career start after being an XFL star. He was 3-for-15 in his last appearance, in Week 7, this season. So… that is not good.
Anyways, back to Cam.
He will now be taking part in his 11th NFL season — which just sounds crazy — and back with his original team.
Matt Rhule will be the third coach CammyCam has played for as a pro, and maybe he will do some good in Joe Brady‘s more explosive offense than he did in boring New England last year — where he made 15 starts. Newton began his career by making three Pro Bowls in his first five seasons, where he also lead the Panthers to three playoff berths during that span.
It wasn’t long ago that he also took the team to their second Super Bowl but injuries have derailed his career over the last three-plus seasons to the point he looked like a shell of himself to close his time in Carolina, and during the stint in New England.
Newton really has done everything though and should get more appreciation than he does.
He was a former five-star recruit, he won a Heisman, he won a National Title, he was a No. 1 overall pick. He was a great starter. He was an MVP.
He isn’t any of those things now, but he may not have to be either.
