The Panthers won the NFC South and advanced to the playoffs with Cam Newton leading their offense last season, so it stands to reason that they aren’t in any hurry to find a new quarterback to run the show.
On Thursday, they assured that they’ll have Newton on the roster through at least the 2015 season. Albert Breer of NFL Network reports that the team has officially exercised their option on Newton’s contract for the 2015 season.
Should Newton play out the 2015 season under his current deal, he’ll make over $14.6 million in his fifth NFL campaign. Chances are that he and the Panthers will be talking about a contract that extends well beyond that season over the next year-plus as the 2011 first-round pick has shown continual improvement since his rookie year and has room to grow a few weeks before his 25th birthday.
Now the Panthers can turn their attention toward getting Newton and the rest of the offense the help at receiver and offensive line that they’ll need to make last year’s playoff berth a regular occurrence in Charlotte.