So After All This Time, it Looks Like Cam Newton Might Sign With ... Carolina?

Source - Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule, owner David Tepper and Steven Drummond, the vice president of football operations and senior advisor to the owner, plan to meet with former Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton Thursday, according to three sources with knowledge of the situation. ...

The Panthers are in need of another quarterback. Additional testing on starting quarterback Sam Darnold’s shoulder Tuesday revealed he had an incomplete fracture in his right shoulder blade.

The team believes he suffered the injury in the second quarter of the Panthers’ game against the Patriots on Sunday.

Big, if true. If Cam Newton ends up re-signing with the Panthers, of all teams, tell me this isn't like rain on your wedding day. A free ride, when you've already paid. 

In a pretty much unprecedented move, the Panthers give their franchise quarterback his outright release just four years removed from an MVP season where he led them to a 17-2 record and a Super Bowl appearance. He ends up sitting around until late June. Lands the starting job in New England for a year. Loses it to a rookie and gets released again. Only to have the Patriots knock out his replacement in Carolina. And they're the ones who come crawling back to him, begging him to return? 

Well, well, well ...

I think I speak on behalf of all of New England (and even if I don't, that's never stopped me before) when I say I hope it happens. It's been semi-painful watching him sit at home unemployed while teams around the league get thin at quarterback. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, when the Saints said they weren't interested:

… it felt like no one would. I mean, after seeing how Sean Payton has been able to transition his offense from Drew Brees' style to fit Jameis Winston's, Newton seemed like a perfect system fit to replace Winston. So if you can't make it there, you can't make it anywhere, so to speak. And I sincerely worried Newton had reached the end of the line. 

But if this does happen, it'll be interesting to see if Matt Ruhle can pivot the system he built with Sam Darnold in mind to fit Newton's skill set after Josh McDaniels struggled to do so in New England. But at least we can assume he'll get a hero's welcome in Charlotte. I think. If nothing else, Newton is a guy who makes it easy to root for him. Maybe not his passing so much, but the attitude, toughness, effort and all the rest he brings to the table. And in the case of Panthers' fans, they loved him before and there's no reason to think they'll love him again. Especially after watching Darnold chase ghosts last week. 

All I ask is that Newton does get signed in Carolina, gets to start, and resurrects his career in a way that didn't happen in Foxboro. Truly. I hope he wins every game the rest of the season. That, plus I'd love to see a video of the negotiations as he sits across from the same owner and VP who cut him loose after the 2019 as they beg for forgiveness and ask him to come back. I can't imagine anything more satisfying for Newton after he put that franchise on the map. It'll be validation for him. Vindication. As well as retribution of a sort. A chance to shove it back down their throats and prove them wrong right in front of their own faces. As the old Klingon proverb goes, "Revenge is a dish best served cold."