Colin Cowherd Says Panthers Will Use Cam Newton Foot Injury to Find Another QB

As the New York Giants proved with Eli Manning, moving on from a franchise quarterback can be [...]

By John Newby

As the New York Giants proved with Eli Manning, moving on from a franchise quarterback can be extremely difficult. Sports radio host Colin Cowherd believes that the Carolina Panthers are currently dealing with the same struggle and want to move on from veteran Cam Newton. Unlike the situation with Manning, however, Cowherd views this foot injury as the opportunity for the Panthers.

Tuesday morning, the host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd proclaimed that the Panthers want to "get out of the Cam business." After drafting him first overall in 2011, the team has seen enough and wants to move on. How will they achieve this goal? By shelving him for the foreseeable future and proclaiming that the foot injury is actually "their bad."

As he explained, this is a strategy that the Oklahoma City Thunder used with Russell Westbrook in the NBA prior to his move to the Houston Rockets. Cowherd believes that the Panthers will implement a similar strategy.

"Cam Newton's been to a Super Bowl, he's been an MVP," Cowherd said on Tuesday. "It's hard to pivot off him. I believe Carolina made a decision about a year ago. They're done with him. They want to get out of the Cam business. They're drafting all of these players offensively, and they're not working, and they know they're talented. And now Cam takes a day off, and everybody looks unbelievable. How do you pivot out?"

As Cowherd continued to explain, he believes that the announcement of a Lisfranc injury and the extended rehab timeline is actually just the Panthers using Newton's absence as an opportunity to evaluate backup Kyle Allen. In his opinion, the Panthers are ready to move off Newton, but they don't know what they have in Allen.

Handily defeating the rebuilding Arizona Cardinals was one impressive moment, but can the backup-turned-starter find continued success against the Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the San Francisco 49ers? If Cowherd is correct about this double meaning behind the extended rehab schedule, Allen will have to play consistently against all of these teams with solid defenses.

Of course, this also all hinges on whether or not the Panthers actually want to move on from their former first-round pick. After all, Newton was the only quarterback from the 2011 NFL Draft to find extended success, and he has been a bonafide weapon for this franchise for years. In his career, Newton has thrown for 29,041 yards and 182 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 4,806 yards and another 58 touchdowns. Newton has been extremely productive for this Panthers team while leading them to the postseason on four different occasions.

On the other hand, it's been eight years and two games, and Newton hasn't delivered a Super Bowl title. He took the team to Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season while winning league MVP, but he struggled mightily against the Denver Broncos defense. Since then, the Panthers have only appeared in the postseason one other time (2017) while finishing the other two seasons with losing records (2016, 2018). Championships are key in the NFL, so there could be a basis for Cowherd's proclamation to be proven true.

There is certainly a chance that the Panthers are ready to move on from Newton considering that he has undergone surgery on his shoulder twice since 2016 and is now dealing with a foot injury. Will it ultimately happen, proving Cowherd correct? The answer is unclear heading toward week four, but Kyle Allen's play over the coming weeks should play a major role in the decision.

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