The Bills are primed to have quarterback Josh Allen lead them into the 2020 NFL season, his third professional campaign.
Sports Illustrated suggests the Bills should also consider bringing in a familiar face to the organization, quarterback Cam Newton.
Newton is slated to be released by the Panthers on Tuesday and there’s clear connections there via Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott, general manager Brandon Beane, and their roots in the Carolina organization.
S/I acknowledges the Bills like Allen, but make the case for having both:
The Bills are a playoff team. They have a great defense. They came into this offseason with a ton of cap room, and still have the 10th-most available. They just brought in a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver. They also may smell a particularly ripe time to go all-in chasing their first AFC East title since 1995, with the Dolphins still building up, the Jets being eternally unreliable and the Patriots finally turning the page on the Tom Brady era.
The Bills might come to the conclusion that Josh Allen is good enough. They could also easily be one year away from the situation Chicago found itself in with Mitchell Trubisky this offseason—suddenly very aware their quarterback simply isn’t the guy, in danger of letting the window close on an otherwise good team. Buffalo would be better served taking a chance on an undervalued player one year early instead of overpaying for a solution one year too late.
There’s a case to make that Newton, if healthy, is better than Allen, as S/I thinks he is. It’s really hard to even take Allen’s side in this argument. Newton was once an MVP winner, but his health is a serious question.
There’s certainly pros and cons to the argument of Newton to the Bills. On the positive, Newton is an upgrade current backup Matt Barkley, maybe even to Allen as mentioned. He’s also more of a veteran as well, having played 125 career games to Allen’s 28 and Barkley’s 14. But on the flip side, the Bills have built Allen up as their team leader and face of the franchise. The negative ripple effects of adding Newton might not happen right away, but if Allen under preforms, McDermott and the coaching staff could start to feel the heat from fans and the locker room alike in regard to making a chance. That heat would come much, much fast with Newton as compared to Barkley.
What also needs to be considered is Newton’s own process. He would likely have Buffalo very low on his list of places to play because he’ll want the best chance to start and there’s plenty of other options in the NFL that could be better suited for him to get that chance right away.
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