Cam Newton’s Future in the NFL

Cam Newton, one of the NFL’s most unique quarterbacks on and off the field, is set to join unrestricted free agency this offseason after finishing up a one-year contract with the Patriots, worth $1,750,000.

With this season over, Newton will most likely be looking for a new team, since reports have come out that he will not be back with the Patriots next season. 

This past season, Cam Newton had a down year by his standards. He started 15 games, and his play was not great by any means.

The Patriots were 7-8 with Cam under center and he only threw for 2,657 yards and just 8 touchdowns, along with 10 interceptions. He did rush for the second-most touchdowns of his career with 12 and also had the second-highest completion percentage (65.8) of his career.

Newton’s poor numbers cannot all be blamed on him, however, because the Patriots lacked competent receivers for him to throw to. While the rushing game was top 10 in the league, which was no doubt bolstered by Newton’s ability to use his legs, the receivers and tight ends on the Patriots weren’t exactly top-notch. Cam’s leading receivers were Jakobi Meyers and Damiere Byrd. That's not exactly a star duo in the league as neither player more than 750 receiving yards and both combined for just 1 receiving touchdown. Even the greatest of all time, Tom Brady, struggled at times with this roster in his last season in New England, so Cam wasn’t expected to come in and light up the scoreboard with this roster. 

After this season, it doesn’t look like Cam will be brought in to be their starter for any team in the leagues.

For a man who was the league MVP just a few years ago, this is quite the fall from grace. Unfortunately, injuries have been a big issue for Newton as he has taken a lot of hits due to the physical nature of his game. Cam not only is a quarterback who loves to run the ball, but he’s a physical runner as well, and at 6’5 245, it’s harder to bring him down than other running quarterbacks around the league.

According to PointsBet, the Baltimore Ravens are currently the favorites to acquire Newton this offseason. His game is similar to Lamar Jackson’s, so if something were to happen, Newton would be able to step in and run the offense efficiently. Another reason this move makes sense is due to the fact that the Ravnes released backup quarterback Robert Griffin III earlier this season.

When Robert Griffin III was forced to take the field this past season due to Lamar Jackson being sidelined due to COVID-19, the results were not good. RG3 attempted 14 throws this season, only completing 8 of them for 42 yards, no touchdowns and 2 picks. On top of that, RG3 took 3 sacks and lost a fumble.

If it wasn’t clear by those statistics, the Ravens lost the matchup against the Steelers without Lamar Jackson.

Another team Newton could end up on is the Las Vegas Raiders, where it looks like other teams will be looking to acquire Raiders’ current backup Marcus Mariota’s services, which will leave the backup position wide open. If the Patriots don’t resign Newton, that leaves a starting position vacant at quarterback, and there have been rumors linking Mariota as a candidate to go to New England to replace Cam Newton.

One thing Newton has going for him is that he has had prior success in the NFL that might make a team take a chance on him. In his MVP season, he led the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 record where they steamrolled through the NFC playoffs before ultimately being dominated by the Broncos vaunted defense in the Super Bowl.

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Newton led the Panthers to the playoffs four times in his career and made the Pro Bowl three times.

We’ve seen what Newton can do when he has a good supporting cast around him. He’s had his ups and downs, but most quarterbacks in the NFL have had those in their careers. While he can’t be the sole driving force of a playoff team anymore, he still has what it takes to succeed due to his ability to keep defenses off balance with his dual-threat abilities. 

Of all the quarterbacks available in free agency this offseason, right after Dak Prescott, Newton is probably the best option available. He’s certainly the most accomplished of all quarterbacks set to hit free agency so there will still be a place for Newton in this league, but he will just have to accept that it most likely won’t be the role that he wants.