The Carolina Panthers were hoping to see the student become the teacher. But there was one big problem with that . . .
As first reported by Joseph Person of The Athletic on Tuesday, the Panthers reached out to Cam Newton about the possibility of a backup role contingent on the acquisition of then Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Team beat writer Sheena Quick then backed up the backup plan—tweeting out two hours later that the team did, in fact, offer Newton the job had such a deal been completed.
Now, what we do know is that this scenario went up in smoke, obviously. Watson, of course, eliminated the Panthers from consideration before ultimately okaying a blockbuster move to the Cleveland Browns a week ago.
We don’t know, however, if Newton was even willing to take such an offer.
The former Most Valuable Player and the franchise’s all-time leading passer has made it clear that he’s looking to be apart of a winner—whether that means actually playing from the start or not. So would Newton have seen a Watson-led Panthers squad as a legitimate enough contender to play second fiddle for?
Well, that’s neither here nor there (or anywhere, for that matter). But it’s interesting to think that Watson—a former pupil of Newton’s 7v7 high school football program—could’ve seen his career come full circle with his mentor by his side.
