With league sources saying that the market for quarterback Cam Newton has cooled over the last month, Newton is expected to take his time before signing with a team, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Newton could wait until teams resume regular activity following the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. That could give teams the chance to check Newton’s health and meet with him in person.
Sources around the league also aren’t sure whether Newton would take a backup job.
League sources believe Newton and the New England Patriots talked early during his free agency but nothing materialized.
Newton has been a free agent since the Panthers released him March 24, ending a nine-year relationship with the quarterback they drafted No. 1 overall in 2011.
The 31-year-old Newton, who holds most of Carolina’s career passing records, missed 14 games last season with a Lisfranc injury in his left foot and the final two games of the 2018 season with a shoulder injury that also required surgery. He underwent surgery for the Lisfranc injury in December.
Newton had a physical in Atlanta on March 23 that was coordinated by the Panthers and his agency, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Newton passed the physical and is healthy, with both his shoulder and foot “checking out well,” a source told Schefter.
Information from ESPN’s Cam Newton was used in this report.
