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In recent years, we’ve seen more and more notable NFL players forced to cut their career short thanks to the toll the game has taken on their body, as Rob Gronkowski called it quits prior to his 30th birthday last year after suffering an unnerving number of concussions and Luke Kuechley did the same in January at the age of 28 when he cited the brutal nature of football as the reason for his premature departure.
Over the past couple of seasons, Kuechley’s former teammate Cam Newton has also been bitten by the injury bug on multiple occasions, as one year was cut short thanks to a shoulder injury and he sat out the majority of the most recent campaign courtesy of a foot fracture that resulted in him being placed on injured reserve back in November.
However, we were treated to some drama prior to that decision, as the Panthers were reportedly planning on sticking with Kyle Allen even if Newton had been healthy enough to return and we suddenly had another quarterback storyline to keep an eye on once the offseason started.
In January, a report surfaced that Carolina was planning on trading its franchise player as soon as his injury healed and owner David Tepper barely even attempted to downplay the rumors that the team was planning on going in another direction.
Last week, that speculation was all but confirmed when the Panthers said Newton had asked to be traded (although the quarterback begged to differ) before announcing they’d signed Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year, $60 million deal to bring the Cam Era to a close.
Carolina reportedly reached out to the Bears and the Chargers concerning a possible trade but couldn’t get either team to bite, and after taking a look at their options, it appears the Panthers have decided the best move is to pull the “S” from the D.E.N.N.I.S. System and separate entirely, as they are expected to announce his release on Tuesday.
The #Panthers are expected to release QB Cam Newton as soon as today, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 24, 2020
His recent injury history does give some cause for concern but it’s hard to believe someone won’t be willing to take a chance on the 30-year-old. Who that will be and how much they’ll end up paying him is another matter entirely but free agency just got a little more interesting.