Cam Newton, Jameis Winston Should Not Remain on Market Long Past Draft Weekend

In the middle of April, two NFL players who have been Pro Bowlers at the sport's most important position and were both No. 1 overall draft picks in the past decade remain unemployed.

One—Cam Newton—was the league MVP in 2015. The other—Jameis Winston—was the top pick that year and the league's passing yardage leader this past season.

Few would suggest with a straight face that neither Newton nor Winston belong on a list of the top 64 quarterbacks in America. So why has neither been signed as at least a backup by one of the NFL's 32 teams?

"Honestly, I'm very surprised just because I think it's evident that the talent is there for Jameis," Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin recently said of his former teammate, per ProFootballTalk's Charean Williams. "And, in my opinion, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find 32 quarterbacks better than him."

Thirty-two is debatable based on Winston's bad turnover habit, but 64? We can all agree Winston is better than Cooper Rush, Ryan Finley and David Fales, right?

So again, why hasn't anything transpired yet?

Like an attention-craving Facebook relationship status, it's complicated. And both the players and potential suitors are likely waiting for a number of dominoes to fall.

Because Winston is coming off the league's first 30-interception season in three decades, and because Newton is far more accomplished, the former might have to wait for the latter to sign somewhere before he gets a shot. But teams might also want to wait for coronavirus-related restrictions to be relaxed or lifted so they can examine Newton's bruised and battered body before offering him a job.

The three-time Pro Bowler missed all but two games last season and was severely limited for much of the previous campaign. It was a bum shoulder in 2018, an injured foot in 2019. Both cases required surgery. He's only 30, but he relies heavily on his legs and his athleticism, and he was sacked 256 times in his first seven seasons.

It's fair to wonder what he has left. But while the country deals with the COVID-19 outbreak, NFL doctors are not performing physicals.

"It's so much possibility for me right now, but the fact that this corona situation has hit, I'm not a person to blame or do any of that things," Newton told NBA player Chris Paul in an interview on Instagram Live earlier this month, per NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "But at the same time, I think I have been affected in a lot of ways, and it's just [unfortunate]. But at the end of the day, man, I'm going to let the ball play how it play and go from there."

So Winston could be waiting on Newton, and Newton could be waiting on a global pandemic. Meanwhile, both could be waiting on the 2020 NFL draft.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

On Thursday and/or Friday (and possibly Saturday), it'll likely be confirmed that highly touted LSU product Joe Burrow will be the Cincinnati Bengals' next franchise quarterback, while we'll also learn where elite quarterback prospects Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Jordan Love will land.

That should pave the way for one or both veteran quarterbacks to sign somewhere.

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The following is a list of teams that many would agree would be better off at quarterback with Newton or Winston on the roster: Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears.

That list contains eight teams, but only four will wind up with Burrow, Tagovailoa, Herbert or Love. Even if teams have high hopes for lower-tier quarterback prospects like Jalen Hurts, Jacob Eason or Jake Fromm, there will be organizations that come away from the draft less stocked at quarterback than they'd prefer to be.

That's when it'll be time to pull the trigger.

Even if a team like New England, Indy, Jacksonville, L.A. or Washington doesn't fancy the idea of Newton or Winston being its starting—or even backup—quarterback in September, the post-draft market will almost certainly present an opportunity to land either player on a short-term, low-risk deal.

Now, we're just talking about taking advantage of a buyer's market by acquiring a depreciated asset. Injuries happen, and even if they don't hit your quarterback depth chart, they'll hit others, driving up the market value of said assets.

Even if it isn't an appealing football opportunity, somebody should sign Newton or Winston soon after the draft because it's a good investment opportunity. This is, after all, a business.

Let's suppose Burrow goes to Cincy, Tagovailoa goes to Miami, Herbert lands with the Chargers and Love winds up in Jacksonville. That'd probably be the best-case draft scenario for all four guys. Maybe the Pats take Hurts and they're satisfied with him, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. That still leaves the Colts and New Orleans Saints without decent long-term successors for Philip Rivers and Drew Brees, respectively, and it leaves at least the Bears and Redskins with lingering question marks under center.

There will be room for Newton and Winston in the NFL quarterback puzzle. And once we are able to put a few more pieces in place this week, we'll have a pretty clear indication of where those two veterans should land for at least a stretch of the 2020 offseason.

Anyone still left with quarterback questions and/or significant salary-cap space at the end of April would be foolish not to take a low-risk shot at one of the two, even if the hope is to just wait for future developments to bolster their trade value.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012. Follow him on Twitter. Or don't. It's entirely your choice.