With the Carolina Panthers thriving with Kyle Allen, Cam Newton could've played in his last game with the organization. Among the teams who should consider pursuing a trade for Newton is the Denver Broncos.
Ever since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset in 2015, Denver has been desperate to find their franchise quarterback. Over that span, guys like Brock Osweiler (retired), Trevor Siemian (backup for New York Jets), Paxton Lynch (backup for Pittsburgh Steelers), and Case Keenum (starter for Washington Redskins) have been the starter.
Then, during the 2019 offseason, John Elway decided it was best to acquire Joe Flacco via trade from the Baltimore Ravens. So far this season, Flacco has thrown for 1,435 yards, six touchdowns, and five interceptions.
The veteran quarterback hasn't been awful—all things considered. But there's no doubt that the Broncos are on their way to having another failed experiment at quarterback. The Broncos also drafted Drew Lock in this year's draft, but he's on injured reserve and hasn't shown any signs of being ready to start.
Therefore, that makes Newton an intriguing option for the Broncos moving forward. It seems like forever ago that Newton was the NFL MVP and was leading a 15-1 Panthers team to the Super Bowl. Ironically, Newton's career began to deteriorate after he fell to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50.
In that game, the Panthers' exhilarating quarterback completed just 18 of his 41 attempts for 265 yards and one interception. Since then, Newton has completed less than 60 percent of his passes to average 2,694 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions per season.
Furthermore, injuries have begun to catch up with Newton in the past couple of seasons. Last year, the mobile quarterback sustained a shoulder injury that derailed Carolina's season after starting with a 6-2 record.
Now, Newton has missed the past four games of this season with a foot injury that he suffered during the preseason. Sadly, the longtime franchise quarterback of the Panthers re-aggravated his foot injury in Week 2.
So why would the Broncos want seemingly damaged goods to become the starting quarterback? Again, it has been well-documented that Newton's play over the past few seasons has been less-than-ideal.
As true as that may be, Newton could possibly benefit from a change of scenery. On top of that, at 2-4 this season, the Broncos don't have a roster that can contend in the AFC West. Maybe adding Newton would provide a spark for Vic Fangio's squad in the future.
Newton is still 30 years old and does bring some excitement to an offense. Considering the success that Allen has had for Carolina, the Panthers should ponder trading Newton.
Above all, Newton could be a perfect quarterback for a team that is defensively-oriented. He wouldn't have a running back of Christian McCaffrey's mold in Denver. But he would have Phillip Lindsay, an up and coming running back in the NFL.
A trade that sends Newton to the Broncos makes sense for both sides. However, are the Panthers ready to officially break up with Newton as their quarterback? It will be an interesting conversation that can be had as the NFL trade deadline looms.