After Sam Darnold injured his shoulder last season, the Carolina Panthers shocked the NFL world and brought back former NFL MVP Cam Newton. While he did play well in his debut, the quarterback struggled in eight games with the franchise, completing just 54.8% of his passes while throwing only four touchdowns and four interceptions.

On Friday, Panthers GM Scott Fitterer revealed that Carolina is open to bringing Newton back in 2022, but he also made it clear: Sam Darnold is likely going to be QB1 and will go into camp as the top option.

Via Yahoo Sports:

“The thing with Cam, it’s got to be a fit for us and it’s got to be a fit for him just as well,” Fitterer said. “He’s looking for a certain opportunity. The door’s still open for us. We’re very open to Cam. We’ll see where it goes. He knows where we stand.”

“Sam’s on the roster as I sit here right now,” the Panthers GM said. “He’s in the lead for that job. We want him to take it and run with it.

“But we're gonna add a lot of competition to that room. The whole emphasis is to stabilize the quarterback position to play winning football. That's what we're working toward.”

PJ Walker also remains on the roster, but as Fitterer said, Newton is still an option for them. Darnold wasn't exactly great in his debut season with the Panthers though, posting a 59% completion rate and throwing 13 INTs in 12 games. He also threw just nine touchdowns.

Nevertheless, whether it ends up being Walker, Darnold, or Newton starting, if the latter does return, Panthers fans will certainly be worried because there is no clear leader for this offense at the moment.