Pittsburgh Steelers
Like Newton, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed all but two games in the 2019 season due to injury. Mike Tomlin should have been everybody’s Coach of the Year in leading Pittsburgh to an 8-8 season with Mason Rudolph and Devlin “Duck” Hodges as Big Ben’s backups. There’s a lot to like about the Steelers if Roethlisberger is able to come back fully healthy in 2020, but there’s also the fact that he’s hinted about retirement for years, and his current contract has a massive $41.25 million cap hit in 2021, Roethlisberger’s final season with the Steelers unless he signs another extension.
As is the case with the Patriots, the scheme fit with Newton would be just about ideal. The Steelers run their own versions of the Erhardt-Perkins offense, which means that Newton would need less time to get the terminology and concepts down. It’s a run-balanced offense that requires the quarterback to decide on the fly which play to call. Imagine a healthy Newton under center for the Steelers replacing Roethlisberger in a pinch, and that might be the difference between a playoff berth and staying home after the holidays.