Cutting a quarterback, trying out two more without much luck, and then re-signing the initial quarterback is certainly a roundabout way to strive for success at the NFL level... and yet, here we are.
On Thursday afternoon, in a quickly developing move, Cam Newton came back to the team with which he rose to the top tier of stardom, won an MVP award, made three Pro Bowls and quickly fell from grace.
As expected, chaos ensued within the NFL social media community, with current and former players, analysts, fans and media personalities all chipping in. After all, how could they not? Newton was out of football and had largely been out of the news cycle, and all of a sudden, he's set to become the starting quarterback of the team with which he'll forever be associated, the team that has struggled so mightily at the quarterback position lately without any answers, the team that evidently had no sense of direction as to what the future would hold for the most important member of an NFL roster.
Now, they're the team that electrified the football world. Cam is back.
Some notable former NFL players, including a handful of Panthers alumni, reacted to the news with excitement.
Listen to sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest NFL team gear
Others, including both players and analysts, reacted with more mixed emotions.
And, most importantly, there were the comedic reactions with excellent executions of gifs, memes and more to nicely encapsulate all of the different factors of the signing, including how he might get along with new locker room mate Sam Darnold.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the deal is worth up to $10 million for the rest of the year with $4.5 million fully guaranteed and a $1.5 million roster bonus... not a bad chunk of change there, eh? That's what you get when you're signed by an aspiring playoff team with a stout defense (No. 7 in points allowed), a struggling passing game with an injured quarterback and a need to get fans pumped up for the rest of the year.
We highly doubt anything could have been more exciting for the Panthers fan base than a reunion with Newton, and based on the Twitter response, Carolina has achieved just what they set out to do. Now, let's see if it pays off on the field.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram