Examining Viability of Cam Newton as Bills' Next Backup QB

The former NFL MVP could help if he has enough left in the tank and is willing to take less than he can get on open market.

So many names are being thrown around now in anticipation of the NFL starting its new league year next week, and some even make sense for the cap-strapped Buffalo Bills. Although they may not have the space this moment to make any significant additions, they likely will by this time next week, when free agency will be in high gear across the league.

As everyone who follows this team knows, they could be losing quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, cornerback Levi Wallace, defensive ends Mario Addison and Jerry Hughes, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, among others. They're due to become unrestricted free agents.

Counting recently released guard Jon Feliciano and linebacker A.J. Klein, the Bills stand to lose as many as 16 free agents from a team that this past season became the repeat winner in the AFC East other than the New England Patriots since 1991.

And more, such as defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, center Mitch Morse, guard Daryl Williams and even linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, could be traded or released or forced to take pay cuts because the Bills have so little money to spend this year compared to almost all the other teams in the league and certainly every team in their division.

Because it would be unrealistic for the Bills to think they can replenish all the potential important losses with draft picks, they will have to be buyers, albeit creative ones.

With that in mind, they likely need to start at backup quarterback, arguably the second most important position on the team, given Josh Allen's high-risk, high-reward approach.

As much as they loved what Trubisky brought to that role last year, they know it will be next to impossible to re-sign him for another season, given the martketplace and the teams that will give him a chance to start.

For that matter, the same may be true of Cam Newton, even though the 2015 league MVP will turn 33 in May and has been trending in the wrong direction for half a decade.

Yet Newton may be the most intriguing option, not to mention the most qualified.

As with all potential additions this year, the Bills are in no position to overpay for any player, even backup quarterback. But if Newton is ready at this phase of his career to accept a different role in which a ring is more important than maximizing his earnings, he could make a lot of sense.

Newton not only developed a great rapport with new Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey during their time together in Carolina, where Dorsey was the quarterbacks coach, he even overlapped with new quarterbacks coach Joe Brady, who was the Panthers' offensive coordinator when Newton rejoined them last November.

Brady was fired a month later and hired this offseason by the Bills.

So is it possible for a former league MVP to back up a future one in 2022?

Depends on how much Newton has left in the tank. After all, he's 13-23 with a dreadful 36-29 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his last 36 starts spanning the previous four seasons. He'll turn 33 in May.

But at the very least, kicking the tires on Newton couldn't hurt.

At his peak, he was almost as scary as Allen is now. During his MVP season, Newton threw 35 TD passes while being intercepted 10 times for a league-leading touchdown percentage of 7.1. He also ran 132 times for 636 yards and 10 more TDs.

If they don't like what they see, there are a multitude of options, including Bills Mafia favorite Ryan Fitzpatrick, who's so old that when he fell last September, he broke his hip.

Well, he didn't break it, but you get the idea. The injury did end his season with the former Washington Football Team. And now he's 39 going on 70.

Others they might want to consider are Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Jacoby Brissett, Teddy Bridgewater and former Bills starter Tyrod Taylor.

None are as accomplished as Newton, however.

That's why the Bills owe it to themselves to check him out 

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.