Cam Newton has likely played his last snap with the Carolina Panthers.
The team’s starting quarterback since he was the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton’s days in Carolina seem to be coming to an end after a report that the team intends to trade him in the offseason. As NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported, Newton will be having surgery this week for the Lisfranc injury on his foot and will enter a rehab period that will take him through the remainder of the season. After that, the Panthers will be looking to deal Newton for the biggest possible return, Rapoport reported.
While there is still a chance that the Panthers could keep Newton on the relatively cheap $18.6 million he is owed next year, the Panthers are most likely looking to spark a rebuild around the younger and cheaper quarterback Kyle Allen.
Rapoport noted that the Panthers could get a decent return for Newton, writing that other teams have scored mid- to high-round picks for quaterbacks with lesser abilities and resumes than Newton possesses.
“The Chiefs traded Alex Smith two years ago for a third-rounder and starting cornerback Kendall Fuller. The Broncos traded for Joe Flacco in exchange for a fourth-rounder,” the report noted. “A few years back, the Bills traded Tyrod Taylor to the Browns for the first pick of the third round.”
Rapoport added that the Eagles received a first- and fourth-round pick for Sam Bradford in a deal with a desperate Minnesota Vikings team but noted that the Panthers were not likely to score such a significant haul.
There have already been plenty of rumors about potential landing spots for Cam Newton. The Chicago Bears have been pegged as one of the most likely suitors, as the team is expected to make a decision on whether to stick with the struggling Mitch Trubisky at quarterback or take a swing for a more established one like Newton.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported (via NBC Sports Chicago ) that while the availability of Newton could help push the Bears into making a move, they are expected to move on from Trubisky regardless.
“When a team disappoints and struggles and has a year like they’re on track to having, inevitably at the end of a year like that, someone always pays,” Schefter said on ESPN 1000’s Kap and Company . “Sometimes multiple people. But in this particular case I think the first guy you’d look at would be the quarterback.”
For their part, neither Newton nor the Panthers have given any public indication about plans for next season.
