Cam Newton Rumors: Ranking the LA Chargers and other potential fits
By Jason Reed
The Cam Newton rumors are running rampant across the NFL landscape right now as Newton is the biggest name available on the free-agent market. He might not be the best name available, but he is the biggest.
Newton is arguably the second-best quarterback that is still available behind Jameis Winston, but carries much more star power than Winston does. That is why the NFL news machine has kind of paused in place waiting to see what Newton will do.
He does not have a lot of options, however. He played really bad in the second half of the 2018 season and missed almost all of 2019, both because of injuries. There are concerns about Newton’s throwing shoulder, which is worse considering he was never a fantastic pure passer to begin with.
However, because of that, Newton is not going to cost a lot on the open market. The Carolina Panthers released Newton after being unable to find a trade and now it is likely that he is going to sign a short-term incentive-based deal.
The LA Chargers, who are in a transitional phase at the quarterback position, have naturally been linked to Cam Newton, even with Tyrod Taylor on the roster. The idea is that Newton would essentially be a better version of Taylor.
The Chargers are not alone as a potential home for Newton, as there have been other teams that have circled through the rumor mill. We have broken down the four most compelling, ranking them in order of likelihood.
4. Cam Newton Rumors: Are the New England Patriots a fit?
The New England Patriots are parting ways with the greatest quarterback of all-time in Tom Brady and with that massive hole to fill, you could make the case that the Patriots take a chance on Newton for one year to buy time for a rookie quarterback to develop.
If anyone is going to groom Cam Newton back into an MVP it is Bill Belichick, right?
Despite Newton being a great fit on paper and the Patriots being one of the favorites to sign him when he was released, it looks very likely that the team foregoes taking a chance on him and stick with Jarrett Stidham.
That is according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, who reports that the Patriots are still on pace to go with their backup plan if Brady left of giving the starting job to Stidham.
While it appears as if the team is not interested in Newton and as strange as the dynamic between him and Belichick would be, I would not completely rule the Patriots out if Newton gets to a price that even Belichick cannot deny. They are far behind the other three teams, though.