Stephen A. Smith Says Panthers "Screwed Over" Cam Newton

The former Carolina Panthers star is still available in free agency

This offseason has been a whirlwind for Carolina Panthers fans. Along with seeing Luke Kuechly retire at the age of 28 and veteran tight end Greg Olsen head off for Seattle, they also saw the face of the franchise, Cam Newton, be released.

The Panthers didn't release Newton until late March, which caused a lot of frustration from not only Newton, but the fan base as well. Had Newton been released earlier, he would have had a much better look on the free agent market. However, at the time of his release, pretty much every NFL team had their quarterback situation figured out heading into the 2020 season or addressed it in the NFL Draft.

Monday morning on ESPN's First Take, Stephen A. Smith was asked why he believes Cam Newton is still on the market. This hasn't been the first time he has voiced his opinion of the situation and it's hard to argue that he is wrong with how the Panthers handled it. 

"The Carolina Panthers screwed him over by waiting until late March to let him go. By that particular moment and time, most teams were doing different things and they pretty much had a lot of their situations set. But considering Cam Newton's cache, his name, what's he's capable of doing, by letting him go so late you definitely compromised his leverage and ensured that there's no way that he would come close to getting what he was worth and that is the problem. It was more of when they let him go, more so than their willingness to let him go. He deserved better. They should have let him go significantly earlier and I don't think this would have been a problem."

Do you agree with Stephen A. Smith's comments? How do you feel the Panthers handled Cam Newton's situation? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

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