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“Star QB–Goes the Way Others Gone”

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Good for a short time.
Now gone because he is hurt.

Short shelf life.

The plight of so many quarterbacks who want to run the football, and get run out of the game with injuries.

Cam Newton is done with the Carolina Panthers, released on Tuesday morning, because of salary cap issues, because of surgeries, because he never got better.

From a (15-1)..MVP-season to MIA to unemployed.

The Panthers, in the wake of a massive rebuild, lost one of the last components of the team that had that great 2015-season.

Tight end Greg Olsen left as a free agent.  Star linebacker Luke Kuechly walked away into retirement because of concussions.  Pick a name, there’s no one left.

Newton exits with some sparkling stats from early in his career.  He did at Carolina, what he did at Auburn, for a couple of years, till he got battered.  He couldn’t change his game, didn’t improve, and kept getting hurt.

Unable to become a complete pocket passer, even with the help of QB-icon coach Norv Turner, when he could no longer run, he became just a marginal quarterback.

Carolina, and no one else, will pay him the 18M he was supposed to earn this season.  No one wanted him when he was put on the trade block.  He may get an offer but who knows if it will be as a starter or a backup, and no one knows how long he holds up.

He exits Carolina with a (68-55-1) record, but since his Super Bowl season, that (15-1) mark, he is just a (23-23) signal caller.  He has just an 80-QB rating since 2016, ranked 30th in the NFL in that time span of 4-years.

The career ledger shows (182TD-108Int)…291-sacks….59% completions and just an 86-rating.

Done in by a torn labrum surgery, then a Lis’franc foot surgery.  In between, fractured ribs and a back.  In all likelihood, this from a running QB style.

His footwork mechanics never improved.  His arm slot to throw the ball was different game to game.  He was late with passes, put balls into coverages, and struggled with playbooks and coordinators.

What is his value now?  Even Ron Rivera, his longtime head coach, now at Washington, didn’t want to trade for him, choosing instead to take a mistake prone Kyle Allen from Carolina instead in a deal.

New England needs a veteran quarterback, the Chargers may need one, Jacksonville wants an experienced quarterback too.

But with a plethora of quality young arms on the NFL draft board, Newton will have a hard time finding a starting job, much less one that pays him what he thinks his value might be.

Hard to believe, Newton-Jameis Winston-Robert Griffin III-Colin Kaeperneck, all unemployed at this hour, for a wide variety of reasons.

Cam Newton out of a job right now-going the way of so many others at that position.  Who would have thought we’d see a day like this?

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