WS Chronicle

As we head into week seven of the NFL season, Cam Newton is still without a job and I am somewhat shocked about that. With all of the injuries and inefficient play we have seen from quarterbacks this year, I figured someone would have offered him a starting position by now.

Newton was released just before the start of the season by the New England Patriots, who chose to go with rookie quarterback Mac Jones instead of Newton. That was a surprising move by Belichick and the Patriots, but not unheard of by them.

It was reported that one of the issues leading up to Newton getting released by the Patriots was his vaccination status. At that point he had not been vaccinated, as he stated, “the side effects weren’t beneficial to me.” In a video published on his YouTube channel on Sunday, Newton said he has now been vaccinated against COVID-19 and would like to continue playing football in the NFL.

“Hell yeah, I still want to play football,” Newton said in the video. “I still get that urge to go out and perform and do something that I’ve been doing since I was seven years old.”

Newton says there have been a couple of teams that have reached out and he has received a few offers, but he says he is waiting for the right opportunity. Last week it was reported that the Seattle Seahawks reached out to Newton, but Seahawks’ coach Pete Carroll did not elaborate much beyond that.

“Just so you know, we’ve already talked to him,” Carroll said. “We’re talking to everybody that could help us. To go right back to the base philosophy that we always uphold here is that we’re going to be competing at every turn with whoever would be available. So we’re on it.”

Seattle is looking at quarterbacks due to their star quarterback, Russell Wilson, going on injured reserve after having surgery on his finger, which was injured during their game against the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 7. He will miss a minimum of three games, but possibly could miss more depending on how well he heals. But for now, the team is in the hands of journeyman Geno Smith.

Smith has not played very well in his time as starting quarterback for the Seahawks, but Russell should be back sooner than later, so it may not be very practical to bring in Newton for such a short time frame.  

There are other teams that could possibly use the services of Newton. I thought the Houston Texans may have kicked the tires on possibly bringing Cam in. Their starter, Tyrod Taylor, injured his hamstring in Week 2 against Cleveland and was placed on IR. The Texans chose to go with rookie quarterback Davis Mills as the starter for the past three games and the results have not been great.

I think Newton would have fit in well with what the Texans do offensively. His skill set is similar to Taylor’s in that they are both mobile and he would have brought another dimension to the offense with his short yardage running capabilities.  

I thought Chicago was another spot where Newton could have landed. Yes, Bears drafted quarterback Justin Fields in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, but they did start the season with veteran Andy Dalton and the team has said that Dalton is their starter once healthy. Fields has not played lights out thus far and maybe Newton could have been that buffer for a few weeks, so they did not have to throw their rookie out there to the wolves.

With Newton on the team, the Bears could have waited until near the end of the season to play Fields. So far, Fields looks like he could have used a few more weeks on the sidelines watching, but now that he has played, there is no turning back. Just seems like a wasted opportunity to save the young kid some growing pains.

I think the Miami Dolphins are enamored with the idea of bringing in Texans’ quarterback Deshaun Watson. I doubt  they even considered Cam Newton as an option once their starting quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, went down with injured ribs. There have been too many whispers about the Dolphins wanting to move away from Tagovailoa and I think they want their long-term solution instead of a short-term fix with Newton.

There are a couple of other teams that could possibly use Newton’s services, but if I were a betting man, I would not put any money on Newton playing this season, which is a shame. I would hate to see his career flame out without the chance to rekindle some of that past glory he enjoyed with the Panthers.

I know injuries have depleted some of the skills Cam once possessed. However, I do feel he still brings a lot to the table and could help a team win. He may not be the MVP-level player he once was, but Newton still has some gas left in the tank, so let’s hope some team gives him his next opportunity.