While players move to-and-fro during the early portion of the NFL’s new year, Cam Newton is still on the Carolina Panthers. Tom Brady is just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s with Tampa Bay. Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper are back with Dallas. Philip Rivers has gotten himself a new contract with the Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile, Cam Newton is still waiting to see where he will land.
It doesn’t appear he’s still with the Panthers because there is a lack of interest. Since the team announced earlier this week they were parting with their longtime starting quarterback, the NFL rumor mill has been spinning up. For now, reports show there are at least three teams with some level of interest.
At the top of the list of suitors is the Chicago Bears. Jacob Infante of Windy City Gridiron reports Chicago has been in contact with Carolina over Newton. There was a time when Chicago was considered the front-runner to get him. It’s possible things have changed since Wednesday as they have since traded for Nick Foles. Of course, there’s still a chance the interest in Newton is more for a starting role and Mitch Trubisky could be on the way out.
Cam Newton, on IG, makes it clear that he did not want this to happen and says Panthers “forced” him into it: pic.twitter.com/gv0ooK8kff
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) March 17, 2020
Another team that has shown interest in Newton and also has a gaping hole at the position is the San Diego Chargers. Josina Anderson took to Twitter earlier in the week after talking to some sources in California. They told the reporter Newton being on the market made things “more interesting” at the very least.
It’s not known just how deep their interest in Cam is. Some sources around the league have talked about waiting the Panthers out. Instead of trading valuable draft picks, they think Carolina could eventually release Newton. The flip side of that, as Infante pointed out, is it could cause a bidding war. If a team doesn’t want to get into that kind of arms race, they can trade for him and avoid an escalating price tag.
Anderson also voiced what she had heard from sources around the league on Twitter about a possible reunion between Newton and former head coach Ron Rivera. Her understanding is there is some interest from the Washington Redskins, but they aren’t going all in. She described their approach as “wait and see.” The team spent most of 2019 grooming what it hopes is the quarterback of the present and future in Dwayne Haskins.
Adding Cam Newton to the mix isn’t something they’ve ruled out yet, but it doesn’t appear they are going all in, either.