Will Cam Newton Play Again for the Panthers
Cam Newton Signs Bargain to Return to Carolina Panthers
The quarterback is the team's career passing leader.
The Carolina Panthers agreed to terms with quarterback Cam Newton on Thursday, the team announced, reuniting the franchise with its career leading passer and one of its most popular players less than two years after it released him.
The motility adds stability to the Panthers afterwards their starting quarterback, Sam Darnold, injured his right shoulder on Sunday confronting the New England Patriots. Darnold is expected to miss multiple games. The Panthers' backup, P.J. Walker, has started only one game in his two-year pro career, and the squad recently signed the journeyman Matt Barkley.
"This is a disciplined decision," Coach Matt Rhule said Thursday at a news conference. "This is an fantabulous role player who is salubrious and wants to be here and I'm excited."
After the Panthers cut Newton, the Patriots signed him in July 2020, and he started 15 games for them last flavor. But the Patriots released him virtually the end of this training camp, electing to kickoff a rookie, Mac Jones, whom the team drafted No. fifteen overall this spring. In August, a misunderstanding of Covid-19 protocols forced Newton to miss several days of practice — a sign that he had not been vaccinated. His absenteeism immune Jones to practice with the Patriots' starters.
Newton's vaccination status besides made it tougher for potential suitors to sign him. Unvaccinated players must test negative for v days before entering squad facilities. In October, on his YouTube aqueduct, Newton confirmed that he had been vaccinated and was ready to join a team.
"I all the same want to play football," Newton said. "I still get that urge to go out and perform and do something that I've been doing since I was 7 years old."
ESPN and the NFL Network reported that the bargain was a 1-year contract worth up to $10 million. Team officials and an agent for Newton did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment.
The Panthers drafted Newton with the No. 1 overall choice in 2011, and he quickly became a cultural fixture in Charlotte, Northward.C., for his demeanor, fashion sense and highlights on the field. He won the Rookie of the Yr Accolade and earned three Pro Bowl nominations. In 2015, he won the N.F.L.'s Near Valuable Player Award and led the Panthers to a xv-1 regular-season record and a Super Bowl appearance.
His career slipped after that. The Panthers made the playoffs only one time from 2016 to 2018, and Newton played through nagging injuries and struggled with his passing accuracy. In 2019, he sustained a serious foot injury that limited him to two games. After a new regime took over the Panthers' forepart office and coaching staff, the Panthers released Newton in March 2020.
"We weren't sure what his health was and we had to make a decision at the time," Rhule said. "Cam understands that. He understands that these are football decisions and football evaluations you have to make."
When the Patriots signed Newton it was to a ane-year, incentive-based bargain, a cheap price for a potential successor to Tom Brady, who had joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after two decades in New England. Newton missed simply one kickoff for New England — because he contracted the coronavirus — and completed 65.8 percent of his passes and rushed for 12 touchdowns. Merely the law-breaking limped through the season because information technology lacked aristocracy skill players. Still, the team re-signed him this spring to keep a proven veteran on the roster.
"He's a hard worker and he'due south a great person and when people learn him and sympathize him, I think he'southward gong to bring a lot of free energy to this squad," said Stephon Gilmore, a cornerback whom the Panthers recently acquired from the Patriots. Gilmore played with Newton in New England.
The Panthers, meanwhile, also faced trouble replacing Newton. They signed Teddy Bridgewater terminal flavour, just the quarterback performed poorly late in games, contributing to a 5-11 record. David Tepper, the squad's owner, was said to be interested in Deshaun Watson, too, before Watson faced lawsuits accusing him of sexual set on and misconduct.
In Apr, the team traded for Darnold, believing the former Jets quarterback would succeed in a new surroundings with better coaching and offensive weapons. That theory worked initially as the Panthers won their first three games of the season. Simply they accept lost five of the last six, and Darnold is tied for the league lead in interceptions with 11. On Oct. 24 confronting the Giants, Coach Matt Rhule benched Darnold in the fourth quarter. When asked this week virtually potentially signing Newton in the wake of Darnold'south injury, Rhule deflected.
"I won't become into whatever hypotheticals. I'll just probably simply talk about the guys on the roster," Rhule said.
Now, Newton is a guy on the roster.
"A good for you Cam Newton is a special player," Rhule said.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/sports/football/cam-newton-carolina-panthers.html
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