NFL History: 25 greatest quarterback-tight end duos of all time

The 7th greatest quarterback-tight end duo in NFL history: Cam Newton & Greg Olsen

Cam Newton is one of the most dynamic and polarizing players of the last decade. One of the unfortunate things about his career is that he never played with a true number one receiver for an extended period of time. He had Steve Smith in his first three seasons, but outside of that, it was just working with what he had. What he did have was a trustworthy tight end in Greg Olsen. Together, they were able to bring the best out in each other.

Arriving to the Carolina Panthers together in 2011, Newton by draft and Olsen by trade, they were tasked with turning a 2-14 team around. In their second and third year together, Newton helped Olsen get over 800 receiving yards each season, something he had never done before. That was only the start.

After Smith departed from Carolina, Olsen became Newton’s go-to-guy and that’s when the connection got special. From 2014-2016, Olsen had three-consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, a tight end record at the time.

The peak moment for this duo was in 2015. Olsen had his career high in receiving yards with 1,104, Newton had his career high in combined touchdowns with 45, while also winning MVP and the franchise that they were tasked with turning around finished the season 15-1 with a Super Bowl appearance.

In total, they took the Panthers to four playoffs while connecting 455 times for 5,638 yards and and 36 touchdowns in 111 games.