It should make perfect sense. The Washington Football Team needs a quarterback and Cam Newton is a free agent. Better yet, Ron Rivera used to coach Newton in Carolina, so there wouldn’t be a learning curve.
And yet, Newton is still sitting on the sidelines. On Monday, Rivera told reporters the team wasn’t pursuing a quarterback in the wake of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s season-ending injury. “No. As of now, no,” he said. “We’ve got a short week, and we’ll go through the week, and we’ll go from there.”
That doesn’t sound very promising for Newton’s football future. On ESPN Tuesday, Stephen A. Smith speculated Newton’s NFL career could be over if Washington doesn’t pick him up.
“If you thought two weeks ago was a bad week for Cam Newton when he got cut by the New England Patriots, this week might turn out to be even worse,” Smith said. “Because this week could potentially spell the end of Cam Newton’s NFL career.”
It would be a damning indictment on Newton if Washington doesn’t even think he can back up Taylor Heinicke, who, Wild Card round heroics aside, was playing in the XFL before WFT signed him last season.
But it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising. Rivera didn’t bring in Newton last year, either, opting to sign another ex-Panthers QB, Kyle Allen, as an insurance option.
“Ron Rivera should be calling Cam Newton. Ron Rivera should be calling him yesterday, to be quite honest with you,” Smith said. “But what if he doesn’t? What if Rivera doesn’t make the call? What if Ron Rivera doesn’t make the call? What other team will — especially knowing that the guy who coached Cam for nine years, and needs a quarterback, still doesn’t bring him in?”
Rivera didn’t make the call last year, along with 30 other NFL teams. So far, it doesn’t look like he'll make it this year, either.