Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Panthers are expected to sit QB Cam Newton (shoulder) now that they are out of the playoffs and start Taylor Heinicke in his place.
On Monday, Newton said admitted that he isn’t sure what’s wrong with his shoulder specifically, but it’s clear that he has a lack of strength in his arm.
“For people who [have] labrum, rotator cuff, just shoulder soreness . . . I wish I could say what the injury is because I don’t really know what it is either,” Newton said, via Pro Football Talk. “No matter how much you push, no matter how much you ice, the anti‐ inflammatory you take. Trust me, I’ve done it. Acupuncture, massages. There’s not a night that goes by without me getting some type of work done on my arm. You just don’t have the strength. From the range of motion, you work on the range of motion then come game time and you never know how the game can play out. Of course you try to stay under 25-30 throws, but if you surpass that or you get hit on it or you have to run or you get tackled and fall on your shoulder, certain things happen. That’s the game of football. As far as stiffness, just muscle tension, there’s a lot going on. At the end of the day it’s not something that hasn’t got worse over the weeks or hasn’t got better over the weeks. It’s just been the same.
Newton, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Panthers back in 2011. He’s currently in the fourth year of his six-year, $118.47 million contract that includes $60 million guaranteed and stands to make base salaries of $16.2 million and $18.6 million over the final two years of the agreement.
In 2018, Newton appeared in 14 games for the Panthers threw for 3,395 yards while completing 67.9 percent of his passes to go along with 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 488 yards and four touchdowns.
Heinicke, 25, wound up signing on with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion back in 2015. He managed to make the 53-man roster during his rookie season but wasn’t active for a single game.
The Vikings elected to waive Heinicke with an injury designation coming out of the preseason last year before eventually cutting him loose with an injury settlement.
Heinicke had brief stints on the Patriots and Texans before being claimed by the Panthers this past April.
In 2018, Heinicke has appeared in five games and completed 2 of 4 pass attempts for 46 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions.
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Rest that shoulder Cam, we have great doctors here in NY. It’s only going to be a few more months before you’re wearing GMEN Blue.
The article states that Cam is in the 4th year of a his 6 year deal. What the article fails to mention is, Cam and the Panthers can both get out of the deal at the end of this season. 2019 is only a $8.25M dead cap hit and 2020 is only a $2M dead cap hit. The GMEN can offer Cam a brand new deal which would lessen the cap hit of the final 2 years. My guess 6 years at $150M would work. Remember! Gettleman was the Panthers GM that gave Cam his current 6 year $118.47M deal.
What GMEN FAN wouldn’t want Cam and Barkley controlling the GMEN offense on Sundays? REALLY! Elisha Manning and his nonsensical farewell is a mere afterthought, with the possibility of Cam in NY. Just picture Cam, Barkley, Shepard, Engram, Coleman, Ellison and Fowler on Sundays in 2019. Trade OBJ, Collins, Jenkins, Ogletree and Vernon for loads of draft picks. Then add to the offensive line, get some real speed cover linebackers and overhaul the entire secondary. Resign Michael Thomas and sign the Texans’ free agent to be the Honey Badger. And last but not least. FIRE!!!!! Putz Shurmur and sign Mike McCarthy a.s.a.p.