Of the teams that have lost their starting quarterback for the remainder of 2019 or for multiple games this season two have gone on winning streaks. The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers both lost their starting signal callers in Drew Brees and Cam Newton and Teddy Bridgewater and Kyle Allen have filled in, respectively.
Once Brees’ thumb has recovered from surgery the decision in New Orleans is easy. If Brees is healthy he plays. That doesn’t mean his backup, Teddy Bridgewater, isn’t a good enough quarterback to start in the NFL (he absolutely is). But Brees is a sure fire future Hall of Famer who is still playing at a high level. Bridgewater is really good, but Brees is better.
But with how Kyle Allen is playing what should the Panthers do once Cam Newton is healthy?
Newton has missed four games this season with a mild Lisfranc injury. The Panthers have a bye this week (Week 7) before they will travel West to take on the San Francisco 49ers.
Kyle Allen Should Remain Carolina Panthers Starting Quarterback
The Numbers
The Panthers started the season 0-2 with Newton under center and have gone 4-0, (including two true road wins and another victory in London) with Allen at quarterback. Carolina has actually lost eight straight games with Newton at quarterback, dating back to last season.
Though it’s a smaller sample size with Allen in the lineup the Panthers are averaging 32.25 points per game but only 20.25 with Newton on the field. Allen is completing 65.6 percent of his passes and he has thrown for 901 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating is 106.6. Newton’s career completion percentage is 59.6 (56.2 percent in his two starts this season) and his career touchdown to interception ratio is 1.69 (182/108). Newton’s career passer rating is 86.1 with his career best 99.4 passer rating coming in 2015.
Options
Newton’s contract with the Panthers is up after the 2020 season and ideally Carolina would trade Newton. But, while there are teams that would view Newton as an upgrade to their current quarterback situation, trading the former Auburn signal caller may prove difficult given his contract, injury history and age (his birthday is 5/11/1989 so he’ll be 32 when his contact expires). Allen, by comparison, is making a paltry $495 thousand to play the same position at a higher level. Carolina should field any and all trade offers for Newton, and hopefully they could find at least one taker, but if a trade doesn’t become a reality the Panthers need to cut him.
If the team releases Newton after the 2019 season they will save $19.1 million in cap space next season.
Last Word
Kyle Allen might not a future Hall of Famer, but he’s completing passes at a good rate, not turning the ball over, allowing Christian McCaffrey (on the shortlist of MVP consideration this season along with Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, and Russell Wilson) to do Christian McCaffrey things (since defenses can’t stack the box with Allen in the lineup) and most importantly, winning games. Newton has shown at various times that he’s not a great leader and he’s only had one really good stretch while in the NFL (his MVP season in 2015). Newton has always been an incredible athlete, but he’s only a mediocre quarterback. Whether Kyle Allen can be the Panthers quarterback for the next decade or so remains to be seen, but the Panthers need to trade Newton or release him after this season. It’s time for them to move on.
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