The Carolina Panthers have screwed up this whole Cam Newton thing at literally every step, but they’re still trying to get something out of it.
First, they mismanaged his shoulder and foot injuries, going back to December of 2016. Then, they hurt his trade value by publicly questioning his health and making it clear they’re moving on with a tone-deaf social media campaign yesterday.
Now, their best hope may be to fool a team that’s desperate enough at quarterback to give them a draft pick in exchange. That probably makes the Chicago Bears their best potential trade partner.
According to Jonathan Jones at CBS Sports, Carolina has been talking to Chicago about a potential Newton trade.
The Panthers have been in recent contact with the Bears regarding Cam Newton, per source. The expectation is Newton will be released in the coming days, but CHI may not want to compete in the market for him
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) March 18, 2020
As Jones notes, the team is now expected to release Newton in the coming days, so there’s a strong chance the Bears won’t even bite.
For what it’s worth, they need an upgrade at quarterback as much as any team in the league. Trading up for Mitchell Trubisky will go down as one of the worst draft decisions in modern history and he’s done nothing over the last three years to prove he can become a respectable long-term starter. Newton is going to miss a throw here and there, but he’s vastly more accurate and talented than Trubisky in every conceivable way.
Chicago has never gotten the QB position right, though. When Jay Cutler is the best in franchise history, you know it’s been a real problem. It would frankly come as a shock if they’re smart enough to either trade for or sign Newton. The Bears are also reported to be interested in Nick Foles and Andy Dalton.
Most likely, we’ll see Newton released in the coming days.
That move would save the Panthers about $19.1 million in cap space and add $2 million more to the ocean of 2020 dead money. It would also be a fitting end to a frustrating era. We can only wonder what Carolina could have accomplished with Newton if he’d ever had a proper supporting cast.
Our best guess is that he will land with the Patriots, who are in need of a replacement now that Tom Brady is joining the Buccaneers.
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