#CAM NEWTON PANTHERS SUPER BOWL FULL#
#CAM NEWTON PANTHERS SUPER BOWL FREE#

#CAM NEWTON PANTHERS SUPER BOWL FREE#

Carolina are likely able to get something in return via trade, with teams willing to roll the dice on getting a proven winner, rather than duke it out in free agency.Īt the very least it seems likely the Colts could have gone for Newton over Philip Rivers, or the Bears move on from Mitchell Trubisky. If the Panthers still chose to go in a different direction and had a Super Bowl winning MVP on their roster it’s entirely plausible the league-wide view of Newton shifts from him being simply an injury risk, into a missed opportunity. The injury concerns are real, but Super Bowl 50 has lingered over Newton as stigma, evidence that he couldn’t win “the big one.” It’s unheard of that a 31-year-old former MVP-winning quarterback wouldn’t find a starting job, particularly in a league where more teams are relying on old QB talent. We’re still left with a very different reality, particularly in free agency.Īs it stands Cam Newton is still without a team. Newton’s injuries are still an issue, the team focuses on win-now, the collapse still occurs. Let’s assume winning Super Bowl 50 doesn’t fix the organizational problems of the Carolina Panthers.

#CAM NEWTON PANTHERS SUPER BOWL FULL#

Another team likely would have hired Matt Rhule from Baylor, Teddy Bridgewater could be a starting QB in a different city, Washington would have found a new head coach, and there’s even a chance that a strong Panthers team forces the Buccaneers into a full rebuild, rather than going all-in on Tom Brady in 2020 - assuming they saw their window in the NFC South closed.Ĭam Newton deserved better than his ending with the Panthers Scenario Two: Things play out the same (mostly). These ripples would have spread through the league and affected dozens of franchises. There’s a very real chance that winning the Super Bowl would have led to Newton still being the quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, Dave Gettleman still being the GM, and Ron Rivera remaining head coach. Newton, as a Super Bowl-winning QB and former MVP likely would have rested his mounting injuries, similarly the team wouldn’t have felt like they were in a position to rush him back to action hastily - exacerbating these problems. Had Carolina won Super Bowl 50 they would have a mammoth hook to hang their hats on. Everyone in the building had a sense they needed to force wins immediately. Ron Rivera seat was getting hot, Newton was struggling, not only on the field, but with injury. Without Gettleman it’s unlikely the team selects Saquon Barkley, instead likely opting for Sam Darnold - which keeps the Jets’ QB in the same city, but in different colors.Īfter Gettleman’s departure the Panthers began acting like a team running out of time. The Super Bowl would have assured that, which drastically alters the Giants’ history too. General manager Dave Gettleman would have stayed with the team in 2017. Winning that Super Bowl, finally getting over the hump, would have changed that. A seemingly endless rubber banding of soaring highs and crushing lows, with little in between. This is critically important for what came in 2017 and beyond.Ĭonsistent inconsistency has been a motto for the Panthers for as long as the franchise has existed. Even a Super Bowl win could have led to a hangover, but at the very least the Panthers would have played with more confidence. It’s unclear what the record would have been. Let’s presume for a moment that the issue with the team was psychological. The Panthers dropped four straight games, Newton was mistake prone, and every week Carolina looked as if it was trying to dig itself out of a deeper and deeper hole. After almost losing to the woeful 49ers (who finished 2-14 that year) the collapse was on. A season-opening collapse to the Broncos seemed to too closely echo the Super Bowl itself, and from that moment on the team never played like it believed it could win. There was a very real psychological problem with the 2016 Panthers. This was the same talented team, with the same staff, largely unchanged from the best season in franchise history - yet they limped into the season a shadow of their former selves, utterly incapable of displaying the confidence that made them a force the year prior. There’s no tangible reason why this happened. The Panthers became the first team in NFL history to go 15-1 the prior season, and finish the next with a losing record following their Super Bowl loss. Cam Newton rumors continue to drift towards the Seahawks Scenario One: Everything is different.

Cam newton panthers super bowl