Quarterback
Cam Newton may be able to avoid surgery this offseason, with the plan being to allow his shoulder to rest to reduce the inflammation with work on his mechanics having the potential to reduce the risk of re-inflammation going forward another option. Cam Newton gives the Panthers the best chance of being successful going forward but, as has been seen with Andrew Luck, this is an injury that can take some time, and so the Panthers can no longer afford to view the quarterback position as Cam Newton plus some other guys.
The Panthers haven’t spent a draft pick on a quarterback since Cam Newton, with every other team in the NFL having taken at least one quarterback since that point, and while it would be a shock to see the Panthers draft a quarterback at 16, the use of a mid-round pick on a quarterback would not be completely inappropriate. The Panthers may also look to explore the free agent quarterback market, though their cap situation means that the upper tier or Foles, Bridgewater and Ryan Fitzpatrick are probably out of their price range.
It is probably fair to say that the Panthers rushed Cam Newton back in 2017, and that that likely didn’t help his shoulder from that point on. While some mechanics work will also likely be required to help Cam stay healthy, adding some serious quarterback options besides him would be a sensible investment in Cam’s long-term health. There is also the fact that if they do hit on a mid-round quarterback in the draft, that is almost certainly an investment they can flip for assets down the road.
That is not to say that Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke won’t be with the Panthers come training camp, but rather that it would be a surprise if the Panthers felt happy turning the offense over to either of them to start 2019 should Cam need some more time to recover. Allen was good against the Saints, but expecting him to play like that every week is unrealistic based on what he has shown through his career to this point – let’s not forget he had five tryouts across the NFL while he was without a job for two months earlier this year.
As much as the defense has disappointed in 2018, it was ultimately the offense which let the team down in the final push for the playoffs; while much of that can be put down to Cam’s shoulder injury, the coaching aspects touched upon in the first section of this postmortem have also played a major part – as have the limitations of the offensive personnel. There is a lot going for the Panthers on offense, but there is work to do this offseason, both in terms of adapting the scheme to bring it into line with the changes the NFL has made in recent years and in terms of adding more talent at a range a positions.
If the Panthers can take some pressure of Cam in terms of improved depth at the position, and McCaffrey in terms of a reduced workload and other rushing pieces, that will go a long way. While further receiving pieces never hurt – once again, getting an offensive line in place that can be a strength and not a weakness will be the main offensive task of the offseason – while quality offensive linemen don’t grow on trees, this is not something the Panthers can continue to try and do on the cheap, with an occasional big-budget signing to try and patch the holes.
As much as there is work to do on the defense, don’t be surprised if the Panthers actually look more to the offense in terms of their free agent and draft spending.
Coming Soon: The Defense Needs Help – Where Will It Come From?
