Ever since Peyton Manning‘s retirement in 2015, the quarterback position has been a massive problem area for the Broncos, as they’ve been unable to find an answer at the position.
My fellow Mile High Sports Broncos writer, Rich Kurtzman, wrote a strong argument for why the Broncos should trade for Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton, but I disagree.
So, why not roll the dice on a former MVP who led his team to a Super Bowl in Newton?
He’s simply just not the long-term answer for the Broncos at quarterback.
Would Newton be an upgrade on the pairing of Joe Flacco and Brandon Allen the Broncos have trotted out this season? Probably, if he could stay healthy. But even then, that’s not enough.
The Broncos have a sliced artery gushing blood and instead of getting the medical attention they need, they’ve just been throwing slightly nicer band-aids on the wound. Trading for Newton would just be doing that again.
First, it was Trevor Siemian, who hasn’t even looked competent as a backup since leaving Denver. Then, it was Case Keenum, who was clearly better than Siemian but was also still obviously a problem. This season, it was Flacco, who was a sitting duck behind the Broncos’ porous offensive line, but for the most part, looked like a slight upgrade on Keenum. Do we really want to do that all over again with Newton?
Newton was one of the league’s best players, with “was” being the operative word. The last time Cam Newton was a positive difference-maker for the Carolina Panthers was his 2015 MVP season, and so much has changed in the NFL since then. Look no further than the Broncos for proof.
2015 saw Newton lead his team to a 15-1 regular-season record, while posting the best PFF grade (85.6), passer rating (99.4) and QBR (67.0) of his career. In 2019, he only played two games but was a disaster in each, going 0-2 and posting the worst PFF grade (50.4), passer rating (71.0) and QBR (23.1) for any season of his career.
In the same offense, Kyle Allen has gone 5-2 this season, with a PFF grade of 53.8, a passer rating of 87.2 and a QBR of 42.8. That makes Allen better across the board in the passing game.
Do you really want to trade a relatively-high draft pick and invest $23 million dollars into a quarterback that’s being thoroughly outplayed by undrafted Kyle Allen in just his second season?
Not only is Newton’s play a concern, but his health is a major concern as well. Over the past four seasons, his body has begun to deteriorate and he’s missed exponentially more time due to injury.
Last season, an issue with his shoulder led to the Panthers tanking down the stretch as Newton was unable to push the ball downfield. This offseason, it was reported that he was forced to change his throwing motion and that this would lead to the best version of Newton yet in 2019. Yet, that clearly wasn’t the case.
The injury he suffered to his foot in the preseason is the main culprit as to why, though the shoulder didn’t help. At this point, it seems highly unlikely we ever see Newton play to a level anywhere near what we saw from 2011 to 2016.
So, if he’s not the answer what should the Broncos do instead? Simple: Invest in a quarterback in the draft, or roll with the one they just drafted last year. That’s how playoff teams are built.
Peyton Manning was a once-in-a-generation type of free agent and the Broncos’ yearly plan at quarterback shouldn’t be to spend big money on a cast-off and pray lightning strikes twice.
