For all the jokes that have been made about Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s offseason rehabilitation strategies, there’s a reality that he can’t deny.
He’s turning 30 next month. He has two years remaining on his contract. And he’s coming off shoulder surgery, which creates reasonable layers of doubt about his future.
He’s taking all of this personally.
Via Marcel Louis-Jacques of the Charlotte Observer, Newton said in his latest vlog entry that he’s putting all of his energies into this comeback.
“I’m going through a trying time in my life, where I need things that’s going to make me better,” Newton said. “I’m coming off surgery on my shoulder and there’s a lot of people that’s kind of counting me out. There’s also new talent coming in that wants my spot, for whatever it’s worth. It’s also things that I’m seeing through the lens of, ‘Cam lost a step.’
“I’m trying to knock all that [expletive] out the park because when I’m focused, I’m dangerous.”
Newton was only a danger to himself last year, as he played far past the point he was effective on the field. The Panthers’ 6-2 start turned into a seven-game losing streak and pressure mounted, but he kept playing when it was clear he couldn’t throw the ball downfield.
If the Panthers aren’t looking seriously at quarterbacks in this draft, they should be. Even if you assume Newton will be perfectly well this year, they need a better grade of backup than they rolled with last year. If they pretend that a guy like Kyle Allen (who was unemployed for nearly two months before they brought him back to the practice squad and he ended up starting and playing OK against a Saints team that wasn’t really trying in the finale) is a real answer, that’s more of a wish than a plan.
Regardless, Newton seems to be approaching this year as if his future is very much up in the air. And until he returns to the field and in something resembling his MVP form, it sort of is.