Pursuit of Cam Newton Would Put Bears on Risky Path

Cam Newton could offer great reward if the Bears traded for or signed him, or they could be getting a used-up passer plagued by injury concerns

There is one wild card in the Chicago Bears quarterback hunt which could disrupt everything.

The declaration by general manager Ryan Pace at season's end that Mitchell Trubisky would be starter again in 2020 set the entire Bears quarterback search onto a lower scale.

The ideal backup would have to be someone like Marcus Mariota, who would be reasonable and has starting experience but could come in and play because he has extensive starting experience. Andy Dalton also falls under this category. Neither would be really expensive because of their situations, while a quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater might be considered too expensive to come as a backup, and there's always the chance he wants to stay in New Orleans anyway.

Other quarterbacks' names have been floated, like Nick Foles or Alex Smith. Neither are feasible because of the cost to their current team if they're cut. Smith might not even be able to play again anyway.

One quarterback could overturn the entire cart, so to speak. 

It's Cam Newton.

Unlike Tom Brady, Philip Rivers or Drew Brees, Newton isn't on the verge of applying for social security. At age 31 next season, he's still in his prime and would still be a player to build around.

There are drawbacks to Newton. It's uncertain what the market place will hold for him considering his physical condition and the amount of time since he's played effectively. It's possible this could hold demand down and make him available at a reasonable rate. The Chargers figure to be a team interested, as well as the Colts.

On Wednesday ESPN's Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler reported the Panthers have to see Newton on the field before they decide on their quarterback's fate.

Newton is coming off Lisfranc surgery. The painful foot injury ended last year for him after two games. It would appear they are more interested in seeing his condition so they can determine whether to offer him up for trade or simply  cut him. Newton's contract is a year from expiring and it would count only $2 million of dead cap space while they save his $21 million salary. 

Keeping Newton with a new coaching regime seems to make little sense.

If they try to get something for him in a trade, it's unlikely to be more than a fifth-round pick because of potential drawbacks, so the Bears could get him. The contract would be the sticky point because the Bears are tight against the cap unless they start hacking players from the contract or do massive renegotiations.

They wouldn't be bringing Newton in to be a backup. That would be an open training camp battle and what's wrong with a two-man battle? 

After all, GM Ryan Pace said they wanted to create competition at positions.

All that said, there would be problems beyond the cost.

This isn't Superman, the Cam Newton who posed after touchdowns like Clark Kent pulling away his shirt and tie to reveal the "S" on his chest. It's more like Superman after Doomsday got ahold of him.

Newton averaged 601 yards for his first eight seasons, then couldn't run due to the Lisfranc injury.

The tough thing for Newton was he came into the season after he had shoulder surgery and had changed his throwing motion because of his shoulder. The idea was to be more accurate and throw with less pressure on the shoulder.

"So at this point in my career, it’s not about velocity," Newton told reporters after coming back from the shoulder surgery. "It's not about throwing a ball 70 yards. It's about efficient football that's gonna win football games."

Newton's ability to operate with this new throwing motion never was established as a certainty, so there will be two concerns.

Can Newton come back? Remember, Superman came back from the dead in DC comics.

The question is whether the Bears would be willing to risk all those injury concerns and be willing to throw Trubisky into a one-on-one battle.

Also, Newton's abilities have to be questioned beyond the injuries. He only had one season in a nine-year career when he threw for more touchdowns than Trubisky's career high. And Trubisky has only been in the league three years.

Newton's career passer rating is barely better than Trubisky's (86.1 to 85.8). He had five good years to start with yards-per-attempt from 7.0 to 8.0, but hasn't been the same since his MVP season of 2015. His yards per attempt were 6.9, 6.7, 7.2 and 6.4 the last four years, which is comparable to Trubisky's.

Newton injuries, lack of consistency over his past four years and the changed throwing motion all make this a gamble the Bears would have to think long and hard about before pursuing.

The payoff could be tremendous, but then again the expenditure could be great and it could all end in a disaster.

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