Could the Cleveland Browns Have Had Cam Newton?

Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers are a win away from Super Bowl glory. In an alternate universe, Newton could have been the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.

The Cleveland Browns would have to be considered to be front-runners for an imaginary “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” trophy given out to National Football League franchises. The Browns, like every other team in the league, could have drafted Tom Brady before Brady was selected by the New England Patriots. The Browns could have drafted Aaron Rodgers. The Browns could have Derek Carr throwing the football to Odell Beckham Jr. on NFL Sundays.

The Browns possibly could have had Cam Newton; maybe twice.

The story here begins back in in the winter months of 2011. Newton, the 2010 Heisman Trophy Winner, was not a slam dunk sure-thing coming out of college. There was that infamous incident involving a stolen laptop. There were questions about how Newton was recruited. In May 2011, Bleacher Report contributor Jim Folsom wrote words on Newton that have since made Folsom quite the celebrity among sports fans on websites such as Twitter:

"Cam Newton is a sure-fire bust. I am so certain of this that if he is the Panthers’ starting quarterback in 2016, I will buy a Cam Newton jersey and stand in the stadium parking lot in my underwear when the Panthers come to Tampa Bay and hold a sign proclaiming that Auburn rules over Florida and Carolina rules over Tampa Bay."

Folsom has understandably been crushed for his assessment as Newton has helped guide the Carolina Panthers to a win away from hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Remember, before Re-Tweeting the Folsom story to have a laugh, that Folsom was not alone in predicting that Newton would never be a franchise NFL quarterback.

Sports Illustrated printed what is now, after the fact, a humorous cover that hinted that either Newton, Jake Locker or Blaine Gabbert could be the first overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. Newton is now the NFL Most Valuable Player and arguably the next great QB in the league. Locker has retired because of injuries, and Blaine Gabbert is probably eight months away from again being a backup QB.

The Browns, shock of all shocks, were in need of a young quarterback in the spring of 2011. Colt McCoy was an unproven third-round pick that had not yet given any real indication that he was going to be the savior the Browns had needed since 1999. Guys such as Seneca Wallace and Thaddeus Lewis clearly weren’t long-term answers.

2011 could have been the perfect time for the Browns to pull off a monster trade.

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The Browns fired much-maligned head coach Eric Mangini after the 2010 NFL season. Pat Shurmur, then the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams, was the hand-picked replacement selected by Browns czar Mike Holmgren. That Holmgren and Shurmur shared the same agent raised some eyes, but the hope sold to fans was that Shurmur would be the offensive guru that the club had been lacking.

Shurmur, as all who follow the Browns know, was a disaster who failed in just about every aspect of his job. The Browns not only lost more than they won. They were largely a boring football team, particularly on offense. In Shurmur’s defense, then-Cleveland general manager Tom Heckert did not do Shurmur many favors as it pertained to assembling an offense. Could things have gone differently had the Browns pulled the trigger on a deal that would have allowed the team to draft Newton?

It was a popular opinion, leading up to the 2011 NFL Draft, that the Panthers should have traded down and acquired additional draft picks other than take Newton or any other player with the first pick. As Joe Person of Charlotte.com pointed out at the time, ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper was one respected individual who voiced such an opinion:

"With that in mind, Kiper said he thinks the Panthers should look to move out of the top spot rather than take a quarterback.“They need defensive line help in the worst way. That’s the best position in this draft. You can move down anywhere you want and get a pretty good defensive lineman. That’s the best position for them to try to fill, the key position for them to try to fill. It’s the best position in this draft,” Kiper said.“So if I’m Carolina and I get an offer, I’d move out of there. Then you move down and get a Nick Fairley, who’s going to be somewhere in that top eight overall. If you want to move down a little further you can. … Down to 18, you’re going to get a highly rated defensive lineman.”"

Assume, for the sake of argument, that trading up in the 2011 NFL Draft was never an option for the Browns. In that case, fast-forward to 2013. Newton is then a raw project who has flashed moments of brilliance in his young NFL career, but he is more so known for antics unbecoming of a man who should be the leader of a pro offense.

Newton had been labeled “childish” in a Deadspin article. A piece on Capstone Report labeled Newton as an “immature jerk.” Newton had visibly pouted on the field when things didn’t go his way, and his meltdowns during games drew comparisons to Jay Cutler. Carolina general manager Dave Gentleman, per Stevie Mercury of the Cat Scratch Reader blog, apparently not all-in on the mobile Newton being the long-term starting quarterback for the Panthers in October of 2013:

"“10 of the 12 teams in the playoffs this year had true pocket passers. At the end of the day, the quarterback has to make plays from the pocket. I think the read option is an option, exactly what you called it. But at the end of the day your quarterback has got to make plays from the pocket and if he can’t you’re going to struggle.” – Dave Gettleman"

That same Cat Scratch Reader piece also included an interesting hypothetical scenario in which the Browns could have offered multiple draft picks to the Panthers in exchange for Newton. The Browns had picks and a need at the QB position. Newton was barely half the player in 2013 that he was this past season. It was hardly a secret in NFL circles that Newton had irked some inside of the Carolina locker room with his actions and personality.

What could have been?

Newton deserves all the credit in the world for blossoming into the player and the man that he is today. No quarterback in the game has played better than Newton over the past several months. Newton is, by all accounts, well liked by his Carolina teammates. Newton will be a favorite to win MVP honors at the start of Super Bowl 50.

More nfl spin zone: NFL MVP Watch (Top 5 Selections)

Nobody can say what would have happened had the Browns traded for Newton at some point in the past. Perhaps Newton would have been swallowed up by the losing culture that has plagued the Browns for nearly two decades. With the Browns set to once again select a quarterback in a draft, one can’t help but wonder where the franchise would be if Newton would have been on the Cleveland roster before the start of the 2014 NFL season.

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