People Who Think Cam Newton Deserves Another Shot In The NFL Are Crazy

Sometimes, I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe. Look, Cam Newton made his money. The guy is a college football legend who carried Auburn to a National Championship. He won Rookie of the Year and an MVP. The guy has nothing to apologize for. With that said, he’s currently a terrible NFL quarterback. He’s become the hot name now, though, every time a subpar backup is brought into an NFL game.

NFL fans enjoy doing this every year. A backup plays poorly, and it's met with a chorus of "why not this guy" people on social media. I don't know, maybe because this guy isn't good anymore. Cam Newton was an objective disaster in the last three years of his career. And right now, he doesn't fit the mold of what a good backup quarterback should be. No one wants a star backup. There's no such thing. They're looking for guys who can run the offense efficiently, not make a ton of mistakes, and sustain drives in an emergency situation if a quarterback gets injured. 

Newton had 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in the last three years of his career. New England let his ass go after the 2020 season, so Mac Jones could take over as the starter. Many people out there would argue that Mac Jones should probably be a backup in this league, and yet he's still a better option than Cam Newton. That was also three years ago. Pending a miracle, I don't believe Newton has gotten younger.

I understand somebody watching Cam Newton's highlights from 2015 and thinking, "Wow, this guy deserves another shot. "But that's a bygone era. And let's be honest, Cam Newton is a big personality. You'll accept that as your starting quarterback but not as your backup quarterback. Teddy Bridgewater is right around the same age as Cam Newton. He's currently the Lions backup. He also has a higher career completion percentage and passer rating than Cam Newton does, and that includes Cam Newton's 2015 MVP season. 

Also, are we just forgetting that Cam Newton's shoulder doesn't work anymore? Again, I feel like I'm missing something. He has talked about this. It's not some well-kept secret. You can't acknowledge that a shoulder injury altered your entire career and then be surprised when people don't want to have you on their roster. 

This isn't even meant to be a smear campaign against Newton. The guy had an amazing career. It's pretty rare that a guy comes out of college with that kind of hype and still ends up winning an MVP. There's nothing he should apologize for other than probably his performance in the Super Bowl that year. He had a great run, but people who see something in him now yearn to see a version of Cam Newton that doesn't exist anymore and hasn't for a long time.