Cam Newton was released by the Panthers six weeks ago and he still hasn’t found a new home in the NFL. In the meantime, inferior quarterbacks like Jameis Winston (Saints) and Andy Dalton (Cowboys) have signed with new teams. So, what’s the deal? If you ask former Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, he says the timing of Newton’s release didn’t help anything.
Here’s what Olsen – now with the Seahawks – told reporters in a video meeting yesterday, per Pro Football Talk.
“If he would have been released a little earlier, kind of like me, I was able to get out in front, come visit Seattle. Maybe Seattle doesn’t sign me if I don’t have a chance to go out there and meet them and them see me and do my physical. Getting released after the lockdown was put in place, I think really limited his chances of teams . . . I think that’s been a challenge for him. I just hope that as things continue opening up and life sort of starts resembling some normalcy again that he can start checking off some of those boxes because he’s too good of a player to not be on a team right now. For so many of us who have seen him up close and personal for a long time, it’s kind of hard to swallow. We’re kind of in uncharted waters right now, kind of weird times. I think all of those factors have kind of played into the current situation he’s in.”
Whatever the reasoning is, Newton shouldn’t sell himself short. The idea that he should accept a job as a backup is absurd.
Remember, Newton passed a physical before he was cut and it wasn’t too long ago that he was playing at a high level. In fact, in the first half of the 2018 season Newton looked so good he might have even been in the MVP conversation if it hadn’t been rightfully dominated by Patrick Mahomes.
One popular idea going around is that there simply aren’t any starting jobs available. This is nonsense. While teams may have a QB1 penciled in to start for them, several would get a massive upgrade if they were to sign Newton. At a bare minimum he is better than Tyrod Taylor, Nick Foles/Mitch Trubisky, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, Josh Allen, Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold, Gardner Minshew and Jarrett Stidham.
In any case, Cam will sign eventually. It’s only a matter of time before some team ends the charade and gets themselves a high quality QB.
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