Contrast of Jaguars’ and Panthers’ Handling of Ousted Quarterbacks Is Reflected in Compensation

The Jaguars and Panthers walked away from relationships with veteran quarterbacks with two wildly different forms of compensation because of how each team conducted itself.

In an offseason filled with uncertainty and neverending moving pieces at the quarterback position, few teams have been unaffected by one of the most eventful quarterback carousels in NFL history.

And in the case of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers, the varying degrees of results a team can get from the changing of ranks at quarterback has been displayed for the entire league to see. 

Each team was in the process of transitioning at the quarterback position this offseason. Two veteran quarterbacks began to be ushered out in favor of a new era for the franchises, but the paths the two clubs took to get value out of their soon to be former signal callers were drastically different. 

For the Jaguars, they continued to prop up Nick Foles all offseason. Teams around the league knew the Jaguars would listen to trade offers, but they also knew the Jaguars weren't going to outright release the veteran passer due to his massive dead cap figure if they had done so. 

But teams also knew the Jaguars had a clear preference at quarterback, despite the Jaguars' refusal to publically admit as much throughout the entirety of the early offseason. Rookie Gardner Minshew II outperformed Foles in 2019, and he presents a cheaper and higher-ceiling option as opposed to the pricey and immobile Foles. 

There was never much doubt the Jaguars would opt to roll with Minshew instead of Foles as the starting quarterback in 2020, but the Jaguars did their best not to show their cards, thus preserving Foles' trade value. The Jaguars continued to state Foles would compete with Minshew for the starting job, ensuring they wouldn't release the veteran quarterback. 

There were no statements or social media posts about looking to give Foles a chance to play elsewhere because doing this would have tanked whatever trade value he had. 

Why would a team trade for a quarterback who would be a free agent? There aren't many good reasons. But a quarterback who you can only acquire by making the best offer? There is more incentive to work out a deal in that case. 

The Jaguars may have privately preferred Minshew as opposed to Foles, but they went out of their way to state a sense of non-commital priorities at every chance possible. Eventually, this strategy paid off as the Jaguars unloaded Foles and his bloated salary in a trade with the Chicago Bears, netting them a 2020 fourth-round pick.

This, however, is the opposite stance the Panthers have taken with former No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton. The Panthers released the former MVP quarterback Tuesday after any possibility of a trade had eroded.

Panthers are expected to release QB Cam Newton today, sources tell ESPN.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 24, 2020

The #Panthers tried to send Cam Newton to the #Bears and #Chargers. They found no takers and at this point, no starting jobs available. Release was the only option. Carolina has just $2M in dead money with this release, but Cam is now free.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 24, 2020

How did the Panthers get to the point where their only option is to release Newton when quarterbacks like Foles and Kyle Allen are netting fourth or fifth-round picks? A part of it has to do with Newton's recent history of injuries, but a big reason is because of how the Panthers handled the entire Newton situation.

Last week, the Panthers took a route with Newton that the Jaguars could have always taken with Foles but chosen to handle it differently. The Panthers outright announced they would let Newton and his representatives seek out a trade, while at the same time working out an agreement with free agent Teddy Bridgewater. 

“Stop with the word play! I never asked for it! There is no dodging this one! I love the Panthers to death and will always love you guys! Please do not try and play me or manipulate the narrative and act like I wanted this. You forced me into this," Newton said on Instagram as a result of the trade news.

Did league executives likely already know Newton was on the trading block before this? Absolutely. But by publically stating Newton will be elsewhere in 2020, the Panthers destroyed the small amount of trade leverage they had with the quarterback. 

While the Jaguars portrayed a veil of secrecy with Foles, the Panthers made it obvious to teams that, sooner or later, they could acquire Newton without giving up any draft picks. 

Despite Newton being the younger option with a better track record compared to Foles, the Panthers received nothing in return for Newton, while the Jaguars got a fourth-round draft pick for a quarterback they were never going to start in 2020. 

Newton has started 76 more games and thrown 111 more touchdowns than Foles in their careers, but somehow the Jaguars got value for Foles while the Panthers can't even get a seventh round pick for Newton. 

The injury argument against Newton is a fair one, but Foles is far from a walking bill of health due to his own lengthy history of being banged up.

Any way you look at it, the Panthers should not have gotten zero value for Newton in the same league where the Jaguars can get a fourth-round pick for Foles. Perhaps if the Panthers took a page from the Jaguars' playbook when it came to the handling of the situations, this might have played out differently.