3 Dark Horse Cam Newton Free-Agent Destinations

The New England Patriots sent shockwaves through the NFL world on Tuesday when they announced former MVP quarterback Cam Newton was cut. With the final 53-man roster cuts looming Tuesday afternoon, the Patriots decided to go all-in on rookie quarterback Mac Jones.

Patriots training camp and preseason play revealed that Jones would be competing for a starting role sometime during the regular season. This move came way ahead of expectations and leaves a reliable veteran quarterback now available on the free-agent market.

There are some obvious choices who could be in the market, such as the Houston Texans. Instead, let's check out three dark-horse teams who may sign the three-time Pro Bowler.

Cam Newton Released

3. Philadelphia Eagles

Though Jalen Hurts is set to take over as the new Philadelphia Eagles QB1, this team seems far from committed to their 2020 second-round draft pick. Philadelphia was even rumored in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes and curiously just traded for backup Gardner Minshew. Hurts made 4 starts during his rookie campaign, passing for 1,061 yards and 6 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. His 41.0 QBR was underwhelming, to say the least. Newton and Hurts have similar styles of play. Plus, if the Eagles roster aside from Hurts appears talented enough to compete in the average NFC East division, then landing Newton could be the key to getting back to the postseason.

2. New York Giants

The New York Giants are running out of time with their Daniel Jones experiment. The rest of the roster took a big step forward in 2020, moving from four wins to six and finishing second in the NFC East. But, Jones completed just 62.5% of his passes with a disappointing 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions ratio. This is a below-average division that could be up for grabs for any of the four teams. Similarly to Philadelphia, if the rest of the roster is talented enough and find themselves in playoff contention, why not grab the proven winner in Newton. Newton saw four playoff appearances and a single Super Bowl appearance during his tenure with the Carolina Panthers.

1. Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos head into the year with Teddy Bridgewater under center on the first team. But, this quarterback depth chart is relatively underwhelming. Neither Bridgewater nor Drew Lock appeared to runaway with the job and both have struggled as starters throughout their careers. In fact, the pair are just 34-33 in 67 combined starts. On the other hand, Newton touts a 75-63-1 overall record as a starter. Denver has loads of talent on defense including Von Miller and Bradley Chubb. If the quarterback play remains underwhelming, don't count the Broncos out of a late-season Newton signing.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.