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Update: Panthers give Cam Newton 5-year, 103.8M extension

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Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports 11:40 a.m. EDT June 1, 2015

 

The Carolina Panthers are on the verge of locking up their franchise quarterback for the long haul.

 

Cam Newton and the team are nearing a five-year extension through the 2020 season that's worth upwards of $100 million, a person with knowledge of negotiations told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.

 

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because work was still being done on the deal, which was first reported by ESPN 730 in Charlotte. Former Panthers general manager Marty Hurney — who drafted Newton No. 1 overall in 2011 — co-hosts a show on the station.

 

Newton, 26, was entering the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, which would pay him $14.667 million in 2015. The more than $20 million average in "new money" would put him with the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan, Baltimore Ravens' Joe Flacco and New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees in the $20-million-a-year quarterback club.

 

Of course, details will be key.

 

Deals signed over the past year by Newton's QB draftmates, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers and Andy Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals, leaned in part on annual escalators based on performance and included less than $20 million fully guaranteed at signing.

 

Those contracts aren't factors in the Newton negotiations, the person said, indicating Newton's extension will follow the traditional quarterback structure with significant money fully guaranteed at signing.

 

Newton's extension figures to factor in negotiations for other quarterbacks coming up on second contracts, including the Indianapolis Colts' Andrew Luck and Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson.

 

***

Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero

 

Source: USAToday.com

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With Ron Rivera as HC? Hope Cam doesn't get killed lol. The way he was left in that game against the Eagles was nuts. Hopefully the Panthers shore things up a little for him.

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With Ron Rivera as HC? Hope Cam doesn't get killed lol. The way he was left in that game against the Eagles was nuts. Hopefully the Panthers shore things up a little for him.

Only 3 QBs in the league get hit / sacked HALF as often as Cam does while throwing.

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I can't wait to see the guaranteed money. I'm glad Cam is getting a traditional QB structured contract and not an incentive ladened deal like Daltons and Kaepernicks contracts. Cam is bonafide franchise QB as to where there are still questions and doubts about the other two.

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Panthers absolutely have to get some more protection for him. Good lord. That stat Favre. I knew it was bad, didn't know it was that bad.

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Per Rotoworld.com:

Panthers signed QB Cam Newton to a five-year, $103.8 million contract extension.
The deal includes $60 million guaranteed, and $67.6 million over the first three years. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, that's a record for a three-year period. They're massive numbers, but we'll see how "guaranteed" Newton's $60 million truly is. Either way, it's a huge vote of confidence in a quarterback who hasn't always been the most consistent. Like the Panthers, however, we still believe in Newton's dual-threat upside. He's arguably the league's most-unique threat at quarterback, and has overseen back-to-back division winners. Newton has taken a ton of hits through four NFL seasons, but is still only 26. The Panthers were right to lock him up. Jun 2 - 4:33 PM

 

Posted by Mike Florio on June 2, 2015, 5:49 PM EDT

 

New contracts routinely are characterized in agent leaks to the media based only on “new money,” because the average sounds better that way. For Cam Newton, five years and $103.8 million translates to an average of $20.76 million in “new money.”

But the real value of the contract must include the remaining contractual value. For Newton, who already was under contract for 2015 at a fifth-year option value of $14.67 million, his total package becomes six years and $118.47 million. That’s a total average of $19.745 million per year.

 

While it’s still unclear how much of the contract is fully guaranteed, the $22.5 million signing bonus strongly suggests that Newton won’t be cut during the next three years, during which he’ll reportedly pocket a record-setting $67.6 million.

 

The full details will say plenty about the cap numbers, the cash commitments, and the true guarantee Newton gets from the moment he signs the deal. But unless Newton regresses so dramatically that the Panthers believe they can find someone else who’ll perform even better, Newton likely isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

 

Source: ProFootballTalk

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I'm fine with the contract, I have no reason to believe Newton deserves less than Kaep. I think he's better than most people give him credit for and is certainly a top-10 QB, the main knocks against him are accuracy and his record.

 

W/L is a team effort and is idiotic to judge a QB on.

 

His accuracy needs improvement, but as Favre said, there are only three QBs in the entire league that have been hit *half* as many times as Cam Newton since he came into the NFL. That will rattle the best of QBs. Gettleman has done a good job building a WR corps that will mask Newton's weaknesses with three big targets and two very speedy ones. Newton has one hell of an arm and tends to hit on his deep throws more often than not.

 

The only glaring weakness on the offense is the O-line, which the Panthers need to focus on as much as possible. If Oher doesn't revert to his original form, they're in some deep shit, and will need Cam to carry them, again.

Edited by Thanatos19

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If Oher doesn't revert to his original form, they're in some deep shit, and will need Cam to carry them, again.

Good luck counting on that

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It pains me to say this as a fan of the Falcons, but Cam is a great quarterback.

He's got his issues, but it's nothing that isn't correctable with some extra attention spent to them. Great deal for him, I'm 50/50 on whether or not it's a good deal for the team.

There's been word flying around Carolina that this is a "make or break" year for Cam. I'm not sure what the front office is really doing if they truly feel that way, as people in the organization are the ones who let that out. I guess it goes to show how much leverage the quarterback has in a pass first league these days.

 

I just wonder if Carolina really feels that way and they are going to be willing to eat the cap down the road, or if they feel he's the franchise guy at this point and their going to ride out his career.

You look at the scale, I think he was paid right where he needs to be though.

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Good luck counting on that

 

We do have his original O-line coach, for what its worth.

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31 mil guaranteed in his girst year. Wow lol. Like I said before though, Cam is a bonafide franchise QB. He's worth the money.

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I may joke about Cam not being great, but agree about the Panthers not getting a better QB in upcoming drafts so might as well pay the guy who's been with you for a few seasons now.

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It's kind of a double edged sword for me. Am I going to to argue against Cam Newton as a player? Nope. Am I going to argue that the Panthers made a mistake signing him to this deal? No, not really.

With that said, is this really going to pay off? What do I mean by that... Well, in my mind and from watching the Panthers over the years, to me... It just seems like they don't want to do what it takes to win. They just seem very kinda wish-washy and not very committed. What have they done to help Cam Newton at all? Not really anything from what I can tell. When do you start putting pieces around the guy you identified as your franchise player so that you can start winning and winning consistently?

I just don't think the Panthers are willing to do that. So again, is it really going to be worth paying Cam Newton this money? I understand not letting a player like this go. I would mock them like crazy if they were to let Cam walk or trade him (or anything other than extending him)... I really don't see the Panthers as a team really reaching the pinnacle of the game. This core (not just players... I am talking all decision makers, front office, coaches, etc) doesn't doesn't feel like they are ever going to really amount to anything.

Not saying they will be bad... But I see them moreso hovering around mediocrity for the foreseeable future. They will flirt with the playoffs, probably get in more than not.. Put up an OK fight and then just roll over.

I really have little to no faith in the Panthers organization. Good for Cam though. Still not a huge fan of him as a person, but he's really fun to watch. The scary thing is he could get SO much better as a player.He has just so much room to grow, still.

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What have they done to help Cam?

 

They got him Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess because the organization identified his major weakness as throwing too high. So they got him two huge WRs to compensate. (I know you don't like Funchess, but to be fair, people didn't like Benji either. And whatever his flaws, he is a very big target that will be hard to overthrow.)

 

I'm not saying they're surrounding him with pieces like the Colts are with Luck, but the Colts didn't have a GM that put them in salary cap hell which the Panthers are just now finally getting out of.

 

Gettleman is taking a gamble on the O-line this year looking like it did towards the end of last year. They haven't done enough, but they have taken strides forward.

Edited by Thanatos19

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Crazy thing is Cam probably could've gotten more dinero had he waited to see what Russell Wilson and/or Andrew Luck get on their new contracts. Good for the Panthers to get it out of the way quickly.

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What have they done to help Cam?

 

They got him Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess because the organization identified his major weakness as throwing too high. So they got him two huge WRs to compensate. (I know you don't like Funchess, but to be fair, people didn't like Benji either. And whatever his flaws, he is a very big target that will be hard to overthrow.)

 

I'm not saying they're surrounding him with pieces like the Colts are with Luck, but the Colts didn't have a GM that put them in salary cap hell which the Panthers are just now finally getting out of.

 

Gettleman is taking a gamble on the O-line this year looking like it did towards the end of last year. They haven't done enough, but they have taken strides forward.

This will be Cam's 5th year in the league, and you come back with the Panthers helping him by drafting TWO players, one of which hasn't even seen the field yet? That just proves my point, I think. Ha. They have gotten slightly better, there have been nominal improvements. But nominal is the key word. Which is why I think they hover around their success of last year for the next half dozen years or so... A little bit better next year, a little bit worse the year after. That is kind of the ceiling I see, right now.

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Carolina has been in cap hell for years, not much they could've done to help Cam outside of drafting guys and hoping for the best.

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Carolina has been in cap hell for years, not much they could've done to help Cam outside of drafting guys and hoping for the best.

Whose fault is it that the Panthers are/were in "cap hell"? Did the Cap Fairy come down and randomly select the Panthers to be at the brunt of her punishment? I don't think so.

 

 

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Whose fault is it that the Panthers are/were in "cap hell"? Did the Cap Fairy come down and randomly select the Panthers to be at the brunt of her punishment? I don't think so.

 

Marty Hurney did... the Panthers have a new GM that doesn't give out those ridiculous contracts. We've been in cap hell for the past four years and are just now getting out it. This is not due to DG, this is due to the actions of the previous GM.

 

We simply didn't have enough cash to go get a big-name free agent to help out Cam due to Hurney giving Williams and Stewart two contracts worth something like 80 million among other things.

 

Next year we will finally be over Hurney's fucking stupid contract scheme and you should see the Panthers at least trying to make some acquisitions in FA. Until then, it's been bargain bin surfing and drafting talent- both of which Gettleman has honestly been pretty good at doing.

 

Don't mistake the Panthers lack of FA moves to be due to apathy or unwillingness to help out their franchise QB, it's been due to the impossible situation they were put in by a completely incompetent GM and an owner who is too much about giving people every possible chance before they fire them.

Edited by Thanatos19

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Yeah, a lot of those bad contracts were on the books before Newton was even drafted if I'm not mistaken. I mean, Jordan Gross also kind of unexpectedly retired a couple years back too. I think it's a little ridiculous to say the Panthers don't want to win as an organization and that they don't want to surround Newton with talent. I mean, they build all their advertising and season ticket packaging and everything else they sell probably off of Cam.

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Marty Hurney did... the Panthers have a new GM that doesn't give out those ridiculous contracts. We've been in cap hell for the past four years and are just now getting out it. This is not due to DG, this is due to the actions of the previous GM.

 

We simply didn't have enough cash to go get a big-name free agent to help out Cam due to Hurney giving Williams and Stewart two contracts worth something like 80 million among other things.

 

Next year we will finally be over Hurney's fucking stupid contract scheme and you should see the Panthers at least trying to make some acquisitions in FA. Until then, it's been bargain bin surfing and drafting talent- both of which Gettleman has honestly been pretty good at doing.

 

Don't mistake the Panthers lack of FA moves to be due to apathy or unwillingness to help out their franchise QB, it's been due to the impossible situation they were put in by a completely incompetent GM and an owner who is too much about giving people every possible chance before they fire them.

 

You don't even need big name free agents. Draft well and you have guys under contract for 4/5 years at really really good prices. When I say the Panthers aren't helping Cam Newton out, I am not saying you have to go splurge in free agency. Heck, I think you'd be better off not doing that.

 

No matter the excuse... whether it be terrible cap management, stupid coordinators / coaches, an incompetent GM, or a moronic owner... Those are organizational failures. Decisions made by those people led to inability to really build a team.

 

You are out of or about to be out of cap hell? Cool. Definitely good news. But the real question is... What are the Panthers going to do with it? And do we trust their pro personnel dept. (if we are talking FA) or scouts to bring in the right guys? Do we trust the owner to not make the same mistakes he has? Do we trust the GM and head coach to surround themselves with good football people and other coaches in order to develop and lead this team to where they need to go?

 

Honestly.. I don't have that faith in them.

 

If I am proven wrong, I won;t be that upset. I really thought the Panthers had it in them to make a sick run last year. So maybe I am just over compensating for my strong support last year by under selling them now?

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The previous front office is the reason they are in cap space. Gettleman is doing a decent job for them all things considered.

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You don't even need big name free agents. Draft well and you have guys under contract for 4/5 years at really really good prices. When I say the Panthers aren't helping Cam Newton out, I am not saying you have to go splurge in free agency. Heck, I think you'd be better off not doing that.

 

No matter the excuse... whether it be terrible cap management, stupid coordinators / coaches, an incompetent GM, or a moronic owner... Those are organizational failures. Decisions made by those people led to inability to really build a team.

 

You are out of or about to be out of cap hell? Cool. Definitely good news. But the real question is... What are the Panthers going to do with it? And do we trust their pro personnel dept. (if we are talking FA) or scouts to bring in the right guys? Do we trust the owner to not make the same mistakes he has? Do we trust the GM and head coach to surround themselves with good football people and other coaches in order to develop and lead this team to where they need to go?

 

Honestly.. I don't have that faith in them.

 

If I am proven wrong, I won;t be that upset. I really thought the Panthers had it in them to make a sick run last year. So maybe I am just over compensating for my strong support last year by under selling them now?

 

You kinda talk like you haven't really looked into the Panthers management, bro. The entire power shifted within the last two years. Dave Gettleman was hired in January of 2013, after the Panthers missed the playoffs. In his first year with the team, they went 12-4 and won the NFC South. In his second year, they went 7-8-1 and still won the NFC South due to its utter patheticness, I'll grant you.

 

Here are his draftees that are gradable so far:

 

2013:

Star Lotulelei- Starter

Kawann Short- Starter

Edmund Kugbila (IRd in 2013 and 2014, released in May 2015).

AJ Klein- Depth, played well in reserve and on special teams

Kenjon Barner (Traded to PHI for a conditional 7th rounder).

2014:

Kelvin Benjamin- Starter

Kony Ealy- Starter

Trai Turner- Starter

Bene Benewikere- Starter

Tyler Gaffney (Hurt in preseason, picked up by Patriots off the practice squad.)

 

Why wouldn't I trust Dave Gettleman? He's been phenemonal in the draft. A 3rd rounder and two sixth rounders are not still on the roster from 2013 and 2014. The 3rd rounder and one of the sixth rounders both had injury problems. Barner was traded for a 7th rounder since at the time we had a crowded backfield and Kelly wanted his Oregon guy.

 

He's gotten some absolute bargains in the FA department. Honestly, my biggest worry with DG is that how well he has done so far will go to his head and he will think he can find a buried gem wherever he needs one.

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