QB Cam Newton weighing offers from ‘interested’ teams, looking for ‘best fit’ – Yahoo Sports

Free agent quarterback Cam Newton hasn't signed with a team yet, but it's not for lack of offers. He's choosing not to sign anywhere yet so he can make a fully informed decision about his future.

"I have teams that are interested in signing me," Newton told ESPN's Adam Schefter in a text. "I am waiting on the best fit as it pertains to winning a championship and getting a fair chance to play."

Newton gave no hints about which teams were interested in him, but one of them is likely the Carolina Panthers, the team that drafted Newton No. 1 overall back in 2011. He spent nine seasons playing for the Panthers a stint that included an MVP award and a trip to the Super Bowl before they released him.

Following a season with the New England Patriots, Newton returned to the Panthers partway through the 2021 season after starting quarterback Sam Darnold got injured. Newton's homecoming didn't go all that well, as the Panthers lost all five games he started, but he made such a positive impact on the team that general manager Scott Fitterer said last week that they want Cam back if he wants to come back.

"It's not just us saying, 'Hey, Cam, come on back,'" Fitterer said via ESPN. "He's got to want to come back. He's got to like the role, the situation. It's really just a fit for both of us.

"The door is open. I'd love to have someone with his leadership, his toughness. He brought so much to his team last year and stabilized us during a really hard time. He's a really special person."

Fitterer didn't say that Newton would be the backup QB, but with Darnold likely healthy going into the season, that's the role Newton would likely be filling. It's not clear if that's something Newton would accept, though he's probably more likely to accept a backup role on a contending team than on a rebuilding team that can't seem to keep its head above water.

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Quarterback Cam Newton has at least the Panthers interested in signing him, but he's not ready to commit quite yet. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Newton is predictably staying busy during the offseason, and this year he's found a way to take his love of youth football to the next level.

Overtime, the company that launched a high school and collegiate level youth basketball league last year, is expanding. They're launching a 7x7 high school football league, and Newton is an investor. Newton has coached 7x7 youth football teams for years, and even considered launching his own league before Overtime came along.

Via CNBC:

Newton told CNBC he contemplated launching a youth football league but we felt with the muscle that Overtime possesses, where this society is going with social media platforms, and giving these kids the exposure that they most direly want and need, I think it made the most sense.

OT7, which is what the league will be called, will help players develop their passing and route running skills. According to CNBC, the games will last 20 minutes and feature limited tackling with no pads. There could be up to 24 teams playing eight games each, not including a championship round, and between 500 to 700 high school athletes could attend the league, which will run June 9-13 in Las Vegas.

Newton told CNBC he's excited to give these young players an opportunity to showcase their talent.

There has been this untapped market in seven-on-seven for years, Newton said. Weve seen kids receive scholarship offers because of their seven-in-seven film. He said OT7 would provide kids the exposure from the visual content that they need. Whether you have five stars or no stars, we want to give you that platform that highlights your skill set.

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QB Cam Newton weighing offers from 'interested' teams, looking for 'best fit' - Yahoo Sports