Reports have indicated the Carolina Panthers will stick with Cam Newton in 2020 but other recent moves make that seem like it might not be the truth.
Saying that Cam Newton‘s future with the Carolina Panthers would be putting it mildly. Yes, there were recent reports that Newton would be the guy under center for the 2020 season and doing so given the coaching hires this offseason could help Newton recapture some magic. But at the same time, everything else the Panthers are currently doing keeps you wondering if that’s actually the case.
The most recent instance in that regard is the Panthers trading Pro Bowl offensive guard Trai Turner to the Los Angeles Chargers for veteran tackle Russell Okung. While Carolina does have a need at tackle, the trade seems to say something other than that.
Whereas Turner is a 26-year-old in his prime with two years left on his current contract, Okung is six years his senior and has just one year left on his deal. The Panthers would, assumedly, be unlikely to make this move if they weren’t trying to shed some salary for 2021 and essentially start to hit the reset button on the franchise, outside of Christian McCaffrey, you’d think.
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But if that’s the case, then Cam Newton really doesn’t fit that course of action. If you’re a team that’s going to start a rebuild and try to make it happen quickly, having a 30-year-old former NFL MVP get healthy and start at quarterback seems like it could be a hindrance to what they want to do.
It’s not just the Turner trade that lends itself to this kind of thinking either. When general manager Marty Hurney and owner David Tepper hired Matt Rhule as the new head coach and Joe Brady as the new offensive coordinator, trade speculation for Newton ramped up and understandably so. Two guys coming from the college ranks seem tailormade to help guide a young quarterback in the league, not reinvent a veteran signal-caller.
Frankly, it’s impossible to know what the Panthers’ plans are at this point for the franchise. However, it does seem that they are putting pieces in place and making moves for a rebuild. And Newton doesn’t fit that.
If they were to trade Newton, it would open up the door to a number of possibilities. They could try to target a quarterback with the No. 7 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, could try to sign a veteran stopgap in free agency or could just move forward with Kyle Allen in the 2020 season in hopes of landing Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Whatever the case, the reports that Newton is in Carolina’s plan have to leave you a bit skeptical at this point. The team has been non-commital publicly and, with all their recent moves, the indications seem to be that Cam Newton simply isn’t part of the plan the Panthers are looking to set forth.