Tepper Not Ready to Make Decision on Newton's Future
It's been an off-season of change for the Carolina Panthers with a new head coach, new offensive and defensive coordinator, Greg Olsen and the team parting ways and Luke Kuechly retiring. Not much more can change, right? Well, that is until you remember that the Cam Newton situation is still unsolved.
After a rather quiet first month or so of the off-season, Panthers owner David Tepper finally gave a little nugget on the status of Cam Newton's future with the team. "I've said it again and again: It's a question of how healthy he is. That's still the number one overwhelming thing, to see how healthy he is and to figure out when he's healthy or not. Everything comes from that," Tepper said following the team's event raising money for Charlotte area schools.
It seems as if Tepper would be willing to keep Newton if he is able to fully recover from his injury, but is that the actual plan in place? If Newton is able to fully recover, Tepper may be more interested in trading him. Teams won't strike a deal for Newton with a bunch of uncertainties surrounding him.
The 30-year old quarterback is owed $18.6 million with just one year remaining on his current deal. With question marks over his health, coupled with his declining performance over the past couple of seasons and an expiring contract, it is unclear if any general manger would be willing to roll the dice at this very moment.
Regardless of what the Panthers do with Newton, they will need to have a veteran presence in the quarterback room to mentor Will Grier and Kyle Allen. Earlier this week, we shared a story on three reasons why the Panthers should keep Cam Newton.
Give it a read and let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
Whether or not Tepper plans on veering in a different direction or not, it seems unlikely that a decision will be made any time soon.
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