After the Patriots released quarterback Cam Newton during the 2021 preseason, the phone didn’t ring. For a while.
Eventually, Newton received an opportunity to return to the Panthers. He now seems to regret it.
“Carolina, I put myself in another fucked up situation,” Newton said on The Pivot Podcast (via Joe Person of TheAthletic.com). “I was signed on Thursday, I played on Sunday. At what point did you think you was gonna be successful? That next week, I started. That’s still up under 10 days of you being on the team, and you’re still trying to learn an offense. . . . So before I sit up here and allow the narrative to be made that Cam ain’t got it no more, Cam is taking full responsibility and saying that Cam put himself in a fucked up situation.”
Earlier, Newton called his time in New England a “fucked up situation,” regarding the fact that he didn’t know the offense well enough to show the world that he was still Cam Newton.
He said he still wants to play. He currently has no offers. In fact, the Panthers are one of the only teams that seem to be keeping the door open. That could change based on his most recent comments.
“There’s not 32 guys better than me,” Newton said. “On my soul. On my soul. On my soul.”
Former NFL linebacker Channing Crowder, one of the hosts of The Pivot Podcast, pushed back against Newton.
“You are 33 years old,” Crowder said. “You done got old. You’re one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the world right now? Cam, I cannot accept that. I can’t accept it. I saw what you did in New England. When you went back to Carolina, I saw what happened. Like, the proof’s in the pudding.”
Crowder remained very aggressive regarding the notion that Cam isn’t who he used to be. Newton nevertheless disagreed strongly with the idea that he doesn’t have it anymore, ultimately citing the “fucked up situations” mentioned above.
At one point, Newton repeatedly tries to argue that he’s better than the worst current NFL starter. The decision makers in the NFL seem to feel otherwise, and to agree with Crowder. We’ll see what happens as training camps open, and if/when quarterbacks currently on depth charts get injured or fail to perform.