The first domino fell in Foxboro on Aug. 22, 2019.
That was when the Carolina Panthers took the field at Gillette Stadium against the New England Patriots for their third exhibition contest of the summer. Cam Newton – making his preseason debut coming off shoulder surgery – limped off the premises having suffered another devastating and preventable injury.
Much like the eight years that preceded that event, the Panthers proceeded to fail the man who kept their organization relevant during his run as their starting quarterback. Initially brushed off as “not serious,” Newton’s foot injury was eventually revealed to be a Lisfranc fracture—a diagnosis that had to be extracted from the team three weeks into the regular season once the damage had been done.
Carolina’s recklessness with their franchise QB, who was thrown onto the field for Weeks 1-2 despite being clearly hampered, was just the latest in a string of mismanaged injuries. The procedure Newton had returned from that night was the second operation on his throwing shoulder in a three-year span.
The previous work he had done in March of 2017 was less serious – a repair of a partially torn rotator cuff, which he likely sustained in Week 14 of the 2016 campaign. Even at 5-8 and with virtually no chance of making the playoffs, the Panthers rolled Cam out to play in the remaining three games of the year then took two months to guide him into surgery.
While minor in comparison, the second go-round under the knife also came as a result of negligence. Just past the midpoint of the 2018 season, Newton took a vicious shot to his right shoulder from Pittsburgh Steelers edge T.J. Watt. After leading the team to a 6-2 mark while playing the best football of his career, Newton’s performance notably dropped off after the hit.
The Panthers went on to get blown out by Pittsburgh, beginning an extended losing streak that destroyed their once-promising season. Newton’s shoulder was obviously dinged, a development that was evident to former coach Ron Rivera, who subbed him out for Taylor Heinicke in a Hail Mary situation at the end of the first half in Week 16.
The Lisfranc made the third injury in four years when Newton was forced to onto the field despite the stakes being low – a thorough failure of risk management that cost Rivera his job and effectively ended the most successful era in franchise history.
10 months later, Newton is heading back to Foxboro. This time, he’ll be doing it as a member of the Patriots.
As he often does, Bill Belichick made another man’s trash his treasure while highlighting the stark contrast between the upper echelon of the league’s decision-makers and everyone else. The reigning czar of football and half-sleeved hoodies got his guy—one he praised before facing in 2017.
“I think when you’re talking about mobile quarterbacks — guys that are tough to handle, can throw, run, make good decisions … — I would put him at the top of the list,” Belichick said just prior to their matchup with the Panthers that season. “Not saying there aren’t a lot of other good players that do that, but I would say of all the guys we played recently in the last couple of years, I think he’s the hardest guy to (defend).
He makes good decisions, can run. He’s strong. He’s hard to tackle. He can do a lot of different things. He can beat you in a lot of different ways. We saw that in the game in 2013. I would put him at the top of the list. I’m not saying the other guys aren’t a problem, because they are. But he’s maybe public enemy No. 1.”
Newton is now set to reap the benefits of not only the greatest head coach in NFL history, but also one of the most successful offensive minds in Josh McDaniels. As they did with Tom Brady, the Pats will likely allow Newton to work with more of an uptempo pace, where he’s played some of his best football.
Contrary to popular (and thinly-veiled discriminatory) belief, Newton possesses elite pocket presence as well as one of the most natural and cerebral feels for the game at the position. That should mesh pretty damn well with the braintrust in New England, even without a star-studded supporting cast.
But what if it doesn’t? What if Newton really is washed? What if he’s unable to return to form?
Belichick and the Patriots are going to come out alright anyway, because they’re playing four-dimensional chess while the competition is still playing checkers.
Say Newton can’t overcome his injury history. Say he greatly underperforms or goes down again with Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer having to take over.
If the Patriots flop in 2020, it will put them in range to draft a new franchise QB like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields or even Trey Lance. No matter what happens, it’s a win-win situation for Belichick.
If Newton’s career cannot be resurrected, the Patriots could very well end up with one of those aforementioned potential stars of the future. If Cam is Cam again, then you’re looking at a Super Bowl contender for 2020 and possibly beyond depending on the salary cap situation.
Even if they couldn’t afford Newton on a longer deal past the upcoming season, he could play well enough to leave New England and net them a third-round compensatory pick for 2021, potentially recouping the lost third-rounder from their punishment handed down on Sunday. 4-D chess.
It’s a full-proof plan by New England. So, why couldn’t the Panthers do it?
Why couldn’t Carolina have just held on to Newton for 2020? Why not give him the opportunity he has earned many times over and let him prove himself on a one-year deal?
Well, because they’re the Panthers. That’s why.
Again, this move illustrates the very huge gulf between franchises like New England and Carolina.
The Panthers already had Newton under contract on a relatively cheap, one-year prove-it deal. Before he was unceremoniously released, Cam was slated to make $19.5 million in base salary and cost only $21.2 million against the cap, which would have been the 14th-highest hit amongst quarterbacks in the league.
Instead, the Panthers will pay a notably less talented Teddy Bridgewater an average of $21 million per year if he plays out the length of his contract.
Although Teddy is a solid player and great guy by all accounts, he keeps the middling Panthers in the middle. He’ll be good enough to keep their offense competent, but not good enough to carry them and their extremely inexperienced defense as a serious threat into the playoffs.
Because the Panthers moved on from Newton seemingly for the sake of moving on, they now have to watch him land in New England’s lap for a well-calculated, low-risk, high-reward move on a contract even cheaper than the pathetic sendoff of a one-minute video tribute on Twitter they gave the most impactful player to ever wear their uniform.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The mediocre franchise in Carolina keeps straddling the fence, while the smart franchise in New England stays smart and continues dominating.
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