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The NFL free agency will remain different in 2021 than it normally is. Due to a loss of total NFL earnings, the salary cap is expected to be considerably lower for next year. This means each team has to be a lot wiser when handing out money in the next offseason.
Bengals fans have their own aspirations for how the team should use their ceiling space, and the folks at Pro Football Focus have a … bizarre prediction.
In his recently released top 50 impending free agent ranking, PFF has Cam Newton as the 15th ranked free agent and predicts he will sign a one-year, $ 20 million contract with Cincinnati.
He might not be the MVP-caliber quarterback he once was, but he’s made it clear that he still deserves to start in this league. There have been a few tough outings, but given his circumstances (new team, truncated offseason, the NFL’s worst WR / TE group, and COVID-19 contraction) he has performed admirably during game times as well.
Prediction: The Bengals sign Newton to a fully guaranteed, one-year, $ 20 million contract.
So … let’s digest this from all angles.
For one thing, the Bengals signing Cam Newton to start while Joe Burrow recovers from his torn ACL would make sense. We don’t know when Burrow will be back in great shape; it may not be for about a month or more in the season. If the Bengals are to be competitive, they need someone at least close to Burrow’s level as a quarterback, and Newton impressed in his debut season with the exhausted New England Patriots.
The logic pretty much ends there, however.
Newton has shown he is still pretty good and has a few more years left in his early 30s; the Patriots letting him go wouldn’t make much sense. And even if Newton eludes Bill Belichick, why would he decide to join a team that would only need him for a year – and not even a full team? Once Burrow has fully recovered, he returns to the field.
Financial data doesn’t make sense either. The Bengals could end up investing in a backup quarterback this offseason, and whatever the case, he won’t be sniffing close to $ 20 million. Newton may end up being worth that or even more, but the Bengals don’t open their wallets for it. And fully guaranteed? Hah!
Cincinnati might end up making another splash or two this coming offseason, but that won’t involve another starting quarterback.
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