Cam Newton has a list of quarterbacks he’d tolerate backing up, and Mac Jones isn’t on it
A dozen signal-callers are on the former New England quarterback's list.
Cam Newton is campaigning for an NFL comeback.
The former Panthers and Patriots quarterback said he feels that there aren’t 32 NFL quarterbacks who are better than him, when he announced that he would throw at Auburn’s Pro Day last month.
During a recent episode of his podcast this week, Newton said he still feels that way, but is willing to return to the league as a backup because he hasn’t gotten the job offers he wants.
The former MVP wouldn’t be a backup for just anybody, of course.
He listed a dozen names of quarterbacks who he’d be willing to sit on the bench behind.
“I think that’s what everybody wants to know anyway,” Newton said. “So, I’ll share my list. And when I was creating this list, I was saying for myself like, ‘yo, damn, I would do that’, or ‘no, I wouldn’t do that, I would want to compete for a job in that situation.’ That’s just me personally, I’m a competitor.”
Newton’s list, in order, is: Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Justin Fields, Tua Tagovailoa, Malik Willis, CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, Jalen Hurts, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Sam Howell.
Newton said his reasoning behind the list is that he thinks he can help those quarterbacks win games in the way that his two of his former backups, Derek Anderson and Joe Webb, helped him.
“When I made my list,” Newton said. “I was saying to myself, who would be some guys I could serve. Who would be some guys I could take up under my wing and let them be the face in essence, but also I would just want to help them in any type of way.”
New England quarterback Mac Jones, who beat Newton for the Patriots’ starting job in 2021, is not on the list of quarterbacks Newton wants to help.
Newton also mentioned winning as a factor in his selections, which makes sense for Hurts, Jackson, Rodgers, Allen, and potentially Tagovailoa.
“I’m just voicing my opinion and getting the narrative out. I didn’t want anybody to assume or live in this false bravado like, ‘oh yeah Cam, hang it up, your heyday is over with.’ The truth of the matter is I’m 33, soon to be 34 and I do believe I have a talent that not a lot of people have.
“But, on another front, it’s like there’s so much that I can provide that someone else provided for me for my overall growth. You heard it here from the horse’s mouth himself so you don’t have to assume anything.”
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