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Cam Newton will return to the Carolina Panthers. The deal, which is pending a physical, is worth up to $10 million for the remainder of the season, including $4.5 million guaranteed and a $1.5 million roster bonus, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Newton helped the Panthers reach the Super Bowl in 2015. He was selected their overall pick in the 2011 draft.
The Panthers (4-5) began searching for options at quarterback after starter Sam Darnold suffered a shoulder injury Sunday that will sideline him four to six weeks.
They are a +10 to +10.5 coming into Arizona this week to face the red hot Cardinals (8-1). Quarterback P.J. Walker is set to start in that game for Carolina.
"My job is to try to win right now," Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said Wednesday. "Our fans aren't paying money to watch us win in two years. At the same time, you're trying to build a Super Bowl-caliber team. So it's a balancing act of doing what's right long term and trying to win at the same time. Many times those are the same thing.
"There are four teams in the NFC with more than six wins. Everyone else is about like us. Lots of teams right now in the NFL are trying to figure out how to get past .500 and have a good year and win in the second half of the year. ... My job is to try to win."
Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP, started 15 games for the New England Patriots in 2020 before being released in training camp this year after the team decided to go with rookie Mac Jones as the starter.
There were questions as to whether Newton had violated the Patriots Covid-19 protocol but New England head coach coach Bill Belichick said the quarterback's vaccination status didn't factor into the decision to release him.
"Hell, yeah, I still want to play football," Newton said in the video. "I still get that urge to go out and perform and do something that I've been doing since I was 7 years old."
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
