Cam Newton Says Multiple Teams Are Interested In Signing Him For 2022
BOSTON (CBS) -- Cam Newton has had a strange few years. After following up his 2015 MVP season with three solid years of quarterbacking, he was beset by injury, then released by the team that made him the face of their franchise for almost a decade, then left without a job into the summer months, then chosen to replace Tom Brady in New England, then cut by the Patriots a year later, and then signed back with the team that had released him just 14 months earlier.
It's been a wild ride.
And while last year's less-than-stellar results would bring about the obvious question of retirement, the 32-year-old QB doesn't appear to have the desire to walk away from the game just yet. And according to Newton himself, multiple teams are interested in signing him.
"I have teams that are interested in signing me," Newton told ESPN's Adam Schefter. "I am waiting on the best fit as it pertains to winning a championship and getting a fair chance to play."
Newton returned to the Panthers last year in November, loudly declaring himself to be back while throwing three touchdowns with no picks and also rushing for two touchdowns in his first two games of action. Things went downhill from there, though, as he completed 47.4 percent of his passes with one touchdown and five interceptions over his next four games, with the Panthers going 0-4 during that stretch. Newton served as Sam Darnold's backup for the final two games of the season -- two games which Carolina also lost, to finish the year at 5-12.
After that season, Newton candidly told reporters that he believes he can still play, but that he does not have a desire to play for a losing team.
"Selfishly, the question can be kind of directed towards, do you think I can play? Yes, I still do think I can play at a high level, absolutely," Newton said back in January. "But if an opportunity presents itself where I don't necessarily need to play and it's about winning, yeah, I'm willing to do that, too. Because this point forward, I'm not coming back for no 5-12. I'll tell you that now. Winning makes everything better. So to what degree I'm willing to do — whether being the starter or not — if it's about winning, I'm with it. And then if it's not, then I won't hitch my wagon to it."
While most teams around the league are set with their starting quarterbacks, Newton appears to be open to a backup role in the right situation.
Over his last three seasons, Newton is 7-15 as a starter, completing 61.9 percent of his passes for 3,913 yards with 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He's rushed for 820 yards and 17 touchdowns on 189 carries during that same span.
