Cam Newton is entering his 3rd year as the Panthers starting quarterback. And although Carolina’s new GM Dave Gettleman has said that Newton is the quarterback of the future, he made sure to add that after two losing seasons now is the time for him to win.
“Cam has had the best two years of any rookie quarterback in NFL history. And everybody talks about the other young (quarterbacks),” Gettleman said Tuesday. “What he’s done has been completely lost in the sauce because of the elephant in the room – the 13-19 record.”
Gettleman was asked whether Newton was the quarterback to build around.
After a pregnant, seven-second pause, Gettleman said; “Yes, he is. But now it’s time to win.”
There’s no question that Cam has talent. He’s shown flashes of greatness that prove that he can be an elite NFL quarterback, and where as I agree that it is time for Cam to win, the entire responsibility should not be placed on him. Carolina has had continuous offensive line problems and questions at wide receiver that have persisted since he’s been in Charlotte. The running back corps of Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart failed to live up to the expectations of their contracts by rushing a disappointing 46 and 37 yards per game respectively. So the pressure is not just on Cam to win now, the pressure is on the Panthers organization to surround Cam with offensive weapons and put a defense on the field with a secondary that doesn’t continuously give up big plays. The pressure is on Ron Rivera to play to win instead of not to lose. The pressure is on Williams and Stewart to not get continually out rushed by the quarterback. The pressure is on the entire team to win, not just Cam Newton.