How likely is Cam Newton joining the Chargers?
Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson and Terez Paylor discuss how likely Cam Newton joining the Chargers would be. Subscribe to the Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Video Transcript
CHARLES ROBINSON: Cam Newton now, the Carolina Panthers say, you know, we've given him-- we've given Cam Newton permission to seek a trade. You have to-- you have to push it at that point if you're the Panthers because you know you're signing Teddy Bridgewater.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Correct.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I think that they wanted to move on Teddy Bridgewater quickly because there was the chance that if Tampa Bay lost out on Brady, Teddy Bridgewater becomes the guy that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going after.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Right.
CHARLES ROBINSON: So they're closing fast on him.
But the Cam thing-- and we discussed this before, and I'll just reiterate it. When you're at the combine and Matt Rhule says some positive things and everyone's like, oh, that just locks it up. That takes care of that. Like, we're moving on-- they're moving on Cam. And then you talk to all these other teams, and the teams go bull-[BLEEP]. You know--
TEREZ PAYLOR: Yeah.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --they're like-- they're like as soon as he passes a physical-- as soon as he can pass a physical, that guy is going to be available.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Yeah.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I can see the Carolina Panthers ultimately having to cut Cam Newton. So my question to you is, take Cam-- take Cam Newton. Take Cameron Newton. Put him on a team in the NFL next year. I mean, you probably already know my choice because I kind of alluded to it on Twitter anyway.
TEREZ PAYLOR: I think teams are going to be concerned about the injury-type deal with him, and they should be, right? He hasn't, like, finished, like, a season for him in a minute.
But, you know, I don't know. The Chargers are interesting in the sense he's a big-name guy. They need that. God, that team needs that. They need somebody to help fill their half of the stadium on their dates. Yeah, I think they're going to have to-- they're going to have to build it around him though.
From a football perspective, I don't know how that's going to fit schematically, and I don't know how that's going to fit just, like, working on the field. But I will say from just needing some juice, you know, the Chargers can get him pretty easy, and maybe they can use them as a bridge guy. Put it this way. If you get Cam Newton, I still think you need to be looking at the quarterback situation pretty closely in the draft if you can.
CHARLES ROBINSON: When we came into the offseason, I talked to someone with the Chargers, and I kind of said, where's this going for you guys? And I brought up Brady. And he told me, look, that he felt like the coaching staff, it was more sort of a lean toward what you and I have talked about, the quarterback of the next 10 years, the guy who can make a play off script, the guy who has some mobility but has a nice arm who can, you know, maybe still be accurate, all these different things. That's what they were looking for.
And I think Cam-- and you can argue about the accuracy. But I think Cam fits the schematic sort of where they're going. If they're sitting there saying, hey, Tyrod Taylor could be our guy, then Cam could be your guy--
TEREZ PAYLOR: Yeah.
CHARLES ROBINSON: --because they both-- they have some similar tenants to their game, you know?
TEREZ PAYLOR: You know, and I will say this. There are some big targets there in Los Angeles.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Keenan Allen, 6' 2". Mike Williams is 6' 4". Hunter Henry's 6' 5". Like hey, you know, that's-- by the way, there's a poor man's Christian McCaffrey in Austin Ekeler. So there are some things there that really make it work. I'm just really concerned about the offensive line, and he's not somebody that can continue to take punishment at the rate he has.
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