Steelers and Cam Newton are a lowkey perfect pairing
By John Buhler
Cam Newton is still a free agent, but one team that would make a great deal of sense for him in the long run might be the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s perfect!
Cam Newton would look really good in black and yellow.
Okay, let’s be real. Newton would look good in anything. The former Carolina Panthers quarterback and American fashion icon is looking for a new team. After nine years in Charlotte, the Panthers organization decided to move on from its former No. 1 overall pick and MVP quarterback. One team that would make a ton of sense for him as a landing spot would be the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh is one a few teams that could use Newton’s services right away.Though they have a future Pro Football Hall of Famer still under center in Ben Roethlisberger, “Big Ben” is coming off Tommy John surgery and only has a year or so left in the tank. The Steelers have what might be their best defense since Troy Polamalu and James Harrison were starring in it. They need a boost.
Newton can provide the Steelers at least something off the bench in 2020, as we all know deep down there is now way Roethlisberger will play all 16 games for them next year. Given that both quarterbacks are of the same prototype, transitioning from one big-bodied, mobile gunslinger to another would be an easier one than just drafting someone. Newton is also several years younger.
Because Pittsburgh didn’t draft a quarterback in last weekend’s draft, it puts a ton of pressure on underwhelming backups like Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges. Pittsburgh almost made the AFC playoffs last year with Hodges and Rudolph combining to start 14 games. Coincidentally, it’s the same amount of games Newton AND Roethlisberger missed in the 2019 NFL campaign.
With the Steelers more likely to be a playoff team next year than not, given the expanded field on both conferences, they won’t be in a position to draft one of the better quarterbacks coming out in the 2021 NFL Draft. Not to say they’d be a bottom-10 team by any means, but the Steelers need more draft capital if they ever want to trade up to draft Roethlisberger’s eventual successor.
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Well, maybe the won’t have to? Newton is only in his early 30s and still has plenty of quality football left in the tank if he could just get healthy. With an emerging superstar defense, Newton has the feel of a quarterback who could lead the Steelers to glory once Roethlisberger rapidly decays. A Newton signing may not manifest for them, but they have to at least consider it.