Cam Newton was given a massive five-year, $103.8 million contract this past offseason by the Carolina Panthers, and there are quite a few analysts that believe they overpaid for him. It is a deal that only time will tell whether or not the Panthers made the right decision, and a lot of pressure is on his shoulders heading into the 2015 season.
There are high expectations for him to prove that he deserved the extension during the upcoming season. Carolina has put together a much more dangerous receiving corps for him as well. He doesn’t have many excuses to fall back on if he doesn’t come through with a big season, and the Panthers will need to take a step forward as a team as well in order for his job to be completed.
Last year, the Panthers limped into the postseason with a 7-8-1 record and ended up beating the injury rattled Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. They fell at the hands of the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks, but still showed some fight. Newton and the Panthers are looking to win the NFC South division title once again, and do their best to continue their playoff success farther this time around.
Everything starts with the play of Newton, who was just given the backing of being a franchise caliber quarterback.
Now that he has been given a large contract, it will be interesting to see whether he continues working as hard and making the leaps forward that he has made throughout his career to this point. Money can change players, but Newton doesn’t seem the type to allow it to affect him in that way.
During the 2014 season with the Panthers, Newton ended up throwing for 3,127 yards, 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also picked up 539 yards and five touchdowns on 103 rushing attempts.
Newton has plenty of improvements that he still needs to make moving forward into the season. He has shown off the impressive physical ability that he has, and has made strides improving his arm accuracy. That being said, there are other areas that he has to step up and prove his full ability to the Panthers.
First of all, he has to make better decisions with the football and become more precise with his play. He has to figure out how to read defenses better and make better decisions with his passes, but he has already made leaps of improvement since he was originally drafted by the Panthers. Nearly every single NFL quarterback can still make improvements in this area, but players like Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning are nearly flawless when it comes to that area of the game.
At 26 years old, Newton is just reaching the prime of his career from a physical standpoint. He hasn’t been as aggressive with his legs over the past couple of seasons, and that is an area that he could look to improve in once again in 2015. There aren’t many defenders that can stick with him in the open field, and are even fewer defensive backs that can bring him down by themselves.
Another area of improvement that he needs to take a step forward in, is the leadership aspect of being a quarterback. He has become a fairly solid leader for the Panthers’ offense, but he could certainly do more when he’s on the field. Becoming an elite quarterback demands having excellent leadership skills, and that is an area that Newton hasn’t fully developed yet.
Fumbling has been an issue for Newton as well, as he had six last season. That is just another area where focusing on taking care of the football comes into play.
Needless to say, it will be very interesting to see what type of season Newton is able to come through with for the Panthers this season. Receiving the type of contract that Newton received this past offseason always puts pressure on any player in any professional sport. He will have to put that pressure aside and focus on proving all of his critics wrong, which is exactly what he will do in 2015.
