Carolina Panthers (first stint) in the
2011 NFL draft In January 2011, Newton began working out with
George Whitfield Jr. in San Diego. Whitfield has worked with other quarterbacks such as
Ben Roethlisberger and
Akili Smith. On April 28, 2011, Newton was selected with the first overall pick in the
2011 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers. He was the first reigning Heisman Trophy winner to go first overall since
Carson Palmer in 2003, in addition to being the first player to win the Heisman, a national championship, and be the top pick in consecution. He also was Auburn's fourth No. 1 selection after
Tucker Frederickson (1965),
Bo Jackson (1986), and
Aundray Bruce (1988). He became Blinn College's fifth player to get drafted and the first in school history to be selected in the first round. During the 2011 NFL lockout, he worked out for up to 12 hours a day at the IMG Madden Football Academy in
Bradenton, Florida, spending up to two hours per day doing one-on-one training with fellow Heisman Trophy winner and ex-Panthers quarterback
Chris Weinke. Before the draft, Panthers owner
Jerry Richardson asked Newton to maintain his clean-cut appearance after Newton told Richardson he had no tattoos or piercings and was thinking about growing his hair longer. This gained some controversy on Richardson's part due to the fact that other players on the team didn't meet these guidelines. Dave Zirin, reporter for TheNation.com, even accused Richardson of racism. Despite this, Newton agreed to Richardson's requests and was selected first overall. Newton would eventually start growing his hair out longer after Richardson sold the team to
David Tepper.
2011 season On July 29, 2011, Newton signed a four-year contract, worth over $22 million, with the
Carolina Panthers that was fully guaranteed. After unsuccessfully negotiating with quarterback
Jimmy Clausen for the No. 2 jersey Newton wore at Auburn, he decided to keep the No. 1 jersey that the Panthers had assigned him after the draft. His quarterbacks coach was
Mike Shula, former head football coach of his college rival Alabama. A month later on September 1, 2011, he was named the Panthers' starting quarterback, ahead of
Derek Anderson and Clausen. In his NFL debut game on September 11, 2011, Newton was 24–37 passing for 422 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, in a 28–21 road loss to the
Arizona Cardinals. With a quarterback rating of 110.4, he also rushed for a touchdown, and became the first rookie to throw for at least 400 yards in his first career game. His 422 passing yards broke
Peyton Manning's rookie record for most passing yards on opening day. In his second career game, a 30–23 home loss to the defending
Super Bowl champion
Green Bay Packers, Newton broke his own record, set the weekend previously, with 432 yards passing, throwing and rushing for a touchdown. Newton's 854 passing yards through the first two games of the season, the most in league history by a rookie, broke the NFL record of 827 set by
Kurt Warner in the 2000 season and stood as the most by any quarterback in the first two weeks of the season until New England's
Tom Brady broke the mark again later in the day with 940. and broke the Carolina Panthers franchise record of 547 yards previously held by
Steve Beuerlein. After Newton's second career game, Packers quarterback
Aaron Rodgers commented, "I think someone said in the locker room that I'm kind of glad we played him early in the season because when he figures it out fully, he's going to be even tougher to stop." The Panthers recorded their first victory of the season against the
Jacksonville Jaguars 16–10. Newton threw for 158 yards and one touchdown. The Panthers played the
Atlanta Falcons, losing 31–17 while passing for 237 yards with no passing touchdowns. Newton increased his team's record to 2–5 with a Week 7 win over the
Washington Redskins 33–20. He threw for 256 yards and one touchdown, completing 18 of his 23 passes. He also rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown, including one run for 25 yards. This performance brought Cam a passer rating of 127.5, his highest yet. With Carolina's win over the
Indianapolis Colts, Newton became the fourth rookie quarterback to pass for over 3,000 yards in his first season, joining Peyton Manning,
Matt Ryan, and
Sam Bradford. Newton set the NFL rushing touchdown record for quarterbacks on December 4, 2011, rushing for his 13th touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers breaking the record of
Steve Grogan set in 1976. The historic performance was part of a career-high three rushing touchdowns, which were part of a 38–19 win. In that game, he also caught a 27-yard pass from wide receiver
Legedu Naanee, making him a
triple threat. With his Week 13 performance against the Buccaneers, Newton earned his first NFC Offensive Player of the Week nomination. On December 24, 2011, in a 48–16 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Newton threw for 171 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown. In the process, he broke Peyton Manning's record of 3,739 yards passing for a rookie. On January 1, 2012, against the
New Orleans Saints, Newton threw for 158 yards and became the first rookie quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards. He finished his rookie season with 4,051 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. In addition, he rushed 126 times for 706 yards and 14 touchdowns. The 14 rushing touchdowns were an NFL record for rushing touchdowns in a single season by a quarterback. His 706 rushing yards were a rookie record for a single season until
Robert Griffin III broke the mark in the next season. Over the course of the season, when Newton had a turnover, the team was 0–10; when he had no turnovers, the team went 6–0. On January 22, 2012, Newton was named to be heading to the Pro Bowl after the
New York Giants beat the
San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship. Because
Eli Manning was one of the three quarterbacks for the NFC to be selected, and with Newton being picked as the NFC alternate later in December, Newton was able to play in the Pro Bowl with Manning headed to the Super Bowl. He finished the Pro Bowl with 186 yards along with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Newton was named both
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year on February 4, 2012. He became the second straight number one pick to win the AP Rookie of the Year, after
Sam Bradford won it the previous season. He was also the first Panther to win the Offensive award, but the second Panthers rookie of the year, following
Julius Peppers, the
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2002. Cam received his Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year awards on the inaugural NFL Honors award show, with 47 of the 50 possible 50 AP votes (the other 3 going to
Andy Dalton). He was named to the
PFWA All-Rookie Team, becoming the third Panthers quarterback to claim this award, joining
Kerry Collins (1995) &
Chris Weinke (2001). He also landed the number 5 and 2 play of the year with his 49-yard touchdown run against the Buccaneers (5), and his touchdown
fumblerooski to Richie Brockel against the
Houston Texans. He earned the nickname Superman due to his touchdown celebration. Newton was rated as the 40th best player in the NFL by his peers on the NFL Top 100 player list. His rookie season was when he started the Carolina Panther tradition "Sunday Giveaway", where the Panthers offensive players typically give away the football that they just scored a touchdown with to kids in the stands.
2012 season Newton started his second professional season with 303 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in the 16–10 loss to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After helping lead the team to a 35–27 victory over
New Orleans in Week 2, Newton and the Panthers went on a five-game losing streak. In the last game of the losing streak, Newton threw for a season-high 314 passing yards but had two interceptions in the 23–22 loss to the
Chicago Bears. The Panthers went on to lose three of their next five games to sit at 3–9. At the end of that stretch was one of Newton's more efficient games of the season. In Week 12, against the
Philadelphia Eagles, he passed for 306 yards and two passing touchdowns to go along with two rushing touchdowns in the 30–22 victory to earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Against the
Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13, he had 232 passing yards and three passing touchdowns to go along with 78 rushing yards in the 27–21 loss. In Week 14, a 30–20 victory over the
Atlanta Falcons, he had a career-high 116 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with 287 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. The victory over the Falcons was the start of a four-game winning streak to end the season. However, the rough first half of the season was too much to overcome for the team. He finished his second professional season with 3,869 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 741 rushing yards, and eight rushing touchdowns. The Panthers finished the season at 7–9. Though this season could be seen by some as a "Sophomore Slump," he did improve in many statistical categories, improved on his efficiency, and cut back on his turnovers. Cam's noticeable decline in rushing touchdowns was due partially to the Panthers signing
Mike Tolbert before the season began. Tolbert, a versatile fullback, recorded seven rushing touchdowns on the season. Newton led the league in Yards Per Completion (13.8) and was tied for second with
Peyton Manning in Yards Per Attempt (8.0) behind Robert Griffin III. Newton was rated as the 46th best player by his peers on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2013 list.
2013 season |alt=|left The 2013 season started rough for Newton and the Panthers with a 1–3 start. The Panthers went on an eight-game winning streak starting in Week 5. Newton was consistent in that stretch, passing for 216.4 yards per game, 13 passing touchdowns, and six interceptions to go along with 62 carries for 324 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. The Panthers' winning streak ended in a 31–13 loss to the
New Orleans Saints in Week 14. They won the last three games to finish with a 12–4 record and earn a first round bye in the playoffs. In the regular season, he recorded 3,379 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 585 rushing yards, and six rushing touchdowns. Newton was selected for the 2014 Pro Bowl. The week after, he lost his first NFL playoff game to the
San Francisco 49ers in the
Divisional Round. In the 23–10 loss, he had 267 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions to go along with 54 rushing yards. Newton was drafted third in the first annual Pro Bowl Draft, by Team Sanders. Newton was rated as the 24th best player on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2014 list.
2014 season On March 21, 2014, Newton underwent surgery to "tighten" up his ankle ligaments, which Newton admitted he had dealt with since his college days at
Auburn University. The estimated recovery time was four months, which caused him to miss
training camp and the first preseason game. During the third preseason game against the
New England Patriots, Newton sustained a hairline fracture on his ribs after a hit from
Jamie Collins. Newton's streak of starting 48 consecutive games was snapped during the Panthers opening game 20–14 victory over the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Newton made his debut during Carolina Panthers home opener against the
Detroit Lions in Week 2. He recorded 300 yards of offense with a touchdown, no turnovers, and a 100.2 quarterback rating en route to a 24–7 victory.|alt=|left Through his first three starts in the season, Newton recorded a 110.8 quarterback rating against the blitz. During the Panthers Week 5 victory against the
Chicago Bears, Newton led the Panthers from a 14-point deficit and was named to the
Pro Football Focus (PFF) Team of the Week for his performance. Senior producer of NFL Films
Greg Cosell and respected Football Outsiders columnist and Pre Snap Reads owner, Cian Fahey, both noted Newton's clear development and growth as a pocket passer. During the Panthers Week 6 37–37 tie against the
Cincinnati Bengals, Newton accounted for 91% of the offense, recording a career-high 29 of 46 completions for 286 yards with two touchdowns and an interception along with 17 rushing attempts for 107 yards and a rushing touchdown, the most since the 2012 Week 14 win against Atlanta, when he had 116 on nine carries. Through the first six games in the season, Newton averaged 2.53 seconds to attempt a pass (2.73 in 2013) and has had the ball out in under 2.5 seconds on 51.8% of his drop-backs (40% in 2013). Newton had arguably his best game of the season in a 41–10 victory over the
New Orleans Saints. Newton completed 21 of 33 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Along with that he had 83 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in that game and with this performance, Newton has had four games with at least 200 passing yards and 80 rushing yards with multiple touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown. That is the most such games in NFL history. Two days following the Saints game, Newton was involved in a well-publicized car crash in which he fractured two vertebrae in his lower back. He missed only one game and returned to the field a week later in a match against the
Cleveland Browns to make the final end-of-season push to win the NFC South division and once again make the playoffs. Newton led the Panthers to the first back-to-back division titles in the NFC South since the formation of the division and became the first quarterback since
Michael Vick and
Randall Cunningham as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with four seasons with at least 500 rushing yards. During the season, Newton also tied
John Elway,
Otto Graham, and
Y. A. Tittle for 10th all-time in rushing touchdowns in the regular season by a quarterback with 33. Further, with his four victories in December, Newton ranked second in the NFL in December wins over the past four years with 14 only behind
Tom Brady. Newton's 33 rushing touchdowns were the most by a quarterback in his first four seasons. He is also the only player in NFL history to have 10,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in his first four seasons and the first to have at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in four consecutive seasons. The following week, Newton led the Panthers to their first playoff win in nine years in the
Wild Card Round over the
Arizona Cardinals, throwing for 198 yards and two touchdowns while running for 35 yards. Newton and the Panthers were defeated by the
Seattle Seahawks 31–17 in the
Divisional Round. Newton was 23–36 for 245 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and 37 rushing yards. Despite missing two games and dealing with ankle, rib, throwing hand, and back injuries through the entire season, Newton was rated as the 73rd best player in the NFL on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.
2015 season: MVP season and Super Bowl 50 appearance On June 2, 2015, the Panthers and Newton agreed to a five-year, $103.8 million contract extension. Through the 2015 preseason, Newton graded as
PFF's best quarterback. During the season-opener against the
Jacksonville Jaguars, Newton finished with 175 yards passing, one touchdown, and one interception, while rushing for 35 yards. This was the first NFL opening-day victory for Newton (the Panthers won their opener in 2014 with an injured Newton on the sidelines). During the Panthers' Week 2 victory over the
Houston Texans, Newton finished with 195 yards passing, two passing touchdowns, and one interception, while rushing for 76 yards and one touchdown. In week three against the
New Orleans Saints, Newton passed for 315 yards and two passing touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown. It marked the 26th game in Newton's career in which he had a passing and a rushing touchdown, ranking second all-time in NFL history behind only
Steve Young (31). Further, it marked the 14th time in his career where Newton notched two-plus touchdown passes and at least one rushing touchdown, third-most in the NFL since 1960, behind only
Steve Young (17) and
Fran Tarkenton (16). Through the first three games of the season, Newton accounted for 76% of the total offensive yards and 88% of the total touchdowns the Panthers generated. Cian Fahey noted Newton's development into a refined pocket passer with the athleticism to diversify any offense with a multidimensional run game. In the following week, during a 37–23 victory over the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Newton went 11 of 22 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns while leading the team in rushing with 51 yards to give the Panthers a 4–0 record for the first time since 2003. As a rusher, through the first four weeks, Newton ranked third in the NFL in rushes for first downs. Following a Week 4 bye, Newton threw for 269 yards, two interceptions, and a touchdown and rushed for 30 yards and a touchdown while leading the Panthers to victory against the
Seattle Seahawks. It marked just the 3rd home Seahawks loss in the
Russell Wilson era. It also marked the first franchise win in Seattle and Newton's ninth career fourth-quarter comeback win. During the game, Newton also recorded the 36th career rushing touchdown of his career; over that span,
Marshawn Lynch and
Adrian Peterson were the only players to record more rushing touchdowns since 2011. Through the first five weeks of the season, Newton recorded a career-high 67.6% of passes under pressure. The following week against the
Philadelphia Eagles, Newton led the Panthers to a victory, earning the Panthers their first 6–0 record in franchise history; during the game, he threw three interceptions and recorded his 28th game with a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. In Week 8, against the
Indianapolis Colts, Newton threw for 248 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, as the Panthers moved to 7–0 with a 29–26 overtime victory; with the win, Newton became the first quarterback in NFL history to earn a comeback victory with his team trailing in overtime. The following week, Newton led the Panthers to their first 8–0 start in franchise history with a 37–29 victory over the
Green Bay Packers; Newton went 15–30 for 297 yards passing, three touchdowns, and one interception to go along with 9 rush, 57 yards, and one touchdown. Further, for the first time in his career, Newton threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a single half. For his game against the Packers, Newton was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. The following week, during the Panthers 27–10 victory over the
Tennessee Titans, Newton went 21 for 26 passes for 217 yards and 1 passing touchdown while recording 9 rushes for 23 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. Newton began the game with 11 straight completions, tying his career best in a single game (vs. Bucs on 11/18/12). The following week, Newton led the Panthers to a 44–16 victory over the
Washington Redskins. During the game, Newton threw for a career-high five touchdown passes and became the only quarterback in NFL history with 100+ passing touchdowns and 25+ rushing touchdowns in his first five seasons. For his efforts, Newton was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. During the Panthers 33–14 victory over the
Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, Newton completed 16-of-27 passes for 183 yards, including going 8-of-16 on third downs, and rushed 12 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. During the Panthers 41–38 victory over the Saints, Newton finished with 380 combined passing and rushing yards and five touchdown passes. He was 10 of 14 for 154 yards and two touchdowns. He led the game-winning 75-yard touchdown drive to the Panthers undefeated through their first 12 games. For his performance, Newton was named NFC Offensive Player of the week for the third time in five weeks. The last time a player achieved that feat was 2007, when
Tom Brady of the
New England Patriots won three player of the week awards in five weeks while quarterbacking the Patriots during an undefeated regular season. The following week, during the Panthers 38–0 victory over the
Atlanta Falcons, Newton completed 15 of 21 passes for 265 yards, 3 passing touchdowns, and finished with a career-high quarterback rating of 153.3. The Panthers amassed 225 yards of offense in just the first quarter of the game, a franchise record. During the Panthers' thrilling 38–35 victory against the
New York Giants, Newton went 25 of 45 for 340 yards and 5 passing touchdowns while adding 8 rushes for 100 yards, his third career game with at least 100 rushing yards. Newton also led the Panthers on his 12th-ever game-winning drive, and his fourth of the season. For his efforts, Newton was again named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Newton became the NFL's first player to win the award four times in a seven-week span since San Diego's
LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006. Through the first 15 weeks of the NFL season, Newton led the Panthers to a 14–0 record. During that span, he also threw the second-most touchdown passes and led the NFL with 40 combined passing and rushing touchdowns. Newton was on the field for 660 of Carolina's 923 plays in which he was either the decision-maker or ball carrier after the snap, which accounted for 72 percent of the Panthers' total snaps. Further, Newton had the second-lowest percentage of passing yards gained after the catch among NFL quarterbacks and 40 of Carolina's 49 touchdowns this season were either thrown or run by Newton. against the
Denver Broncos|alt=The Panthers had their first setback in the 20–13 away loss to the Atlanta Falcons in their second divisional matchup. In the loss, Newton was 17 of 30 for 142 yards. In a 38–10 win over the Buccaneers during the regular-season finale, Newton tied his season-best completion percentage (80.8), threw for almost 300 yards and added a pair of touchdowns and had his first game with two rushing touchdowns since Week 12 of the 2012 season. His passer rating of 139.3 was the second-best mark he posted all season. For his efforts, he was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the fifth time in the season. Newton became the first player to win five NFC Offensive Player of the Week awards in a nine-week span within a season and his five awards tied for the most in a season in NFL history (
Tom Brady, 2007). Cam Newton led NFL quarterbacks in rushing attempts, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns in 2015. Newton's 45 total touchdowns during the regular season marked the most touchdowns by a single player since 2013. Newton was selected as the 2015
NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year by the
PFWA. Newton and the Panthers finished the season with a 15–1 record, a franchise best, and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. They defeated the
Seattle Seahawks in the
Divisional Round by a score of 31–24, despite nearly blowing a 31–0 lead, and went on to defeat the
Arizona Cardinals 49–15 in the
NFC Championship game to face the Broncos in
Super Bowl 50. In the game, Newton completed 19 of 28 passes for 335 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. In addition, he rushed 10 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for multiple touchdowns in a single NFC Championship. The Panthers' 49 points were the most in the history of the NFC Championship. On February 6, 2016, Newton was named
NFL MVP. Newton was the second African-American quarterback to receive the honor after
Steve McNair in 2003 and the first sole recipient as McNair shared his award with
Peyton Manning, who Newton would go on to face in the Super Bowl. Newton earned First-team All-Pro honors and his third Pro Bowl nomination. In Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016, which pitted the Panthers' top-ranked offense against the Broncos' top-ranked defense, the Panthers lost by a score of 24–10. The game was generally a one-score affair until a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. The defense of both teams performed extremely well and led to both offenses struggling terribly throughout the game. Newton was sacked six times and Manning was sacked five times, both quarterbacks fumbled twice, and both threw an interception. Newton's two fumbles were pivotal moments as the first fumble was from a strip-sack from
Von Miller and led to the Broncos' first touchdown and the second was forced by Miller late in the fourth quarter with the Panthers needing only 6 points to tie the game leaving Newton in prime position to recover the football. Newton controversially hesitated to dive on the football (later citing injury concerns) allowing the Broncos to recover the football with a first-and-goal on their eventual game-clinching touchdown. Newton was ranked as the top player in the NFL by his peers on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2016. For the season, Newton sold the 7th-most merchandise from March 2015 to February 2016.
2016 season In the opening game of the 2016 season against the
Denver Broncos, Newton surpassed two of
Steve Young's NFL records, one for the most career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, with his 44th, and the other for most games with a passing and rushing touchdown, with his 32nd. This also tied
Otto Graham's all-time professional American football mark of 44 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. He passed for 194 yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception to go along with 11 carries for 54 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 21–20 loss. In the next game, a 46–27 victory over the
San Francisco 49ers, he had 353 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, and one interception. On October 2, in a 48–33 loss at the
Atlanta Falcons in Week 4, Newton suffered a concussion on a two-point conversion run and missed the rest of the game. Newton missed the next game against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On December 4, against the
Seattle Seahawks, Newton was benched for the first offensive series for a dress code violation. It was Newton's first professional game, other than his first career preseason game in 2011, in which he began the game as the backup. For the 2016 season, Newton completed 52.9 percent of his passes, marking a career worst in that category. He threw 19 touchdown passes, 16 fewer than the previous year, and 14 interceptions, the second most of his career behind his rookie season. The Panthers regressed from their 15–1 record from the previous year to a 6–10 record in 2016. Despite a down 2016 season, Newton was still ranked 44th by his peers on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017 season On March 30, Newton had surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff on his throwing shoulder. During a press conference on October 4, Newton was asked a question by Jourdan Rodrigue, a female sportswriter for
The Charlotte Observer, regarding passing routes. Newton smirked and said, "It's funny to hear a female talk about routes." Then he answered her question. His remarks were viewed as sexist by Rodrigue as well as many in the media. It later surfaced that Rodrigue had previously mocked Newton using a
Twitter account with which she had also posted racist comments, causing the publication BlackSportsOnline.com to label her a hypocrite. The following day, yogurt company
Dannon dropped Newton as a sponsor. Newton uploaded a video to Twitter later that day in which he apologized for his remarks. During
Monday Night Football against the
Miami Dolphins in Week 10, Newton threw for 254 yards and rushed for 95 yards with four total touchdowns. The Panthers combined for 294 rushing yards and 548 total yards of offense as the Panthers won 45–21. His performance in Week 10 earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. He finished the regular season with 3,302 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and a career-high 754 rushing yards to go along with six rushing touchdowns. The Panthers made the playoffs as the #5-seed. In the
Wild Card Round against the
New Orleans Saints, he threw for 24–40, for 349 total yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers lost with a score of 31–26. The Panthers made it to the Saints' 21-yard line on their final drive in the fourth quarter but turned the ball over on downs. Newton was ranked 25th by his peers on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.
2018–19: Injury-shortened seasons After a 16–8 victory over the
Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 of the 2018 season, Newton went 32 of 45 passing, 335 passing yards, three touchdowns, and an interception to go along with 42 rushing yards in the 31–24 loss to the
Atlanta Falcons. The next week, he passed for two touchdowns and ran for two touchdowns in the 31–21 victory over the
Cincinnati Bengals. In Week 7 against the
Philadelphia Eagles, after being down 17–0 in the fourth quarter, Newton completed 16 of 22 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns in the final quarter as the Panthers defeated the Eagles 21–17, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Newton and the Panthers began struggling in the month of November. After the Panthers lost to the
New Orleans Saints in Week 15, which was their sixth straight loss after starting 6–2, Newton acknowledged a nagging shoulder injury that had been hampering his play during the losing streak, and hinted that the team would deactivate him for the final two games of the season in order to heal. On January 24, 2019, Newton underwent right shoulder surgery. In a poll orchestrated by writers from
The Athletic, Newton was voted the most underrated quarterback in the league by 85 defensive players from 25 teams. He was ranked 87th by his fellow players on the
NFL Top 100 Players of 2019. Newton made his return from injury in Week 1 of the following season against the
Los Angeles Rams. In the game, Newton passed for 239 yards and one interception as the Panthers lost 30–27. In Week 2 against the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers on
Thursday Night Football, Newton completed 25 passes out of 51 attempts for 333 yards as the Panthers lost 20–14. After the game, Newton said "All fingers are pointed back to the offense and me specifically." Newton was held out of the week 3 game against the
Arizona Cardinals due to injury, and it was later revealed that he had a
Lisfranc fracture, which he later confirmed in a
YouTube vlog. On November 5, the Panthers placed Newton on injured reserve as the injury was healing slower than expected. On March 17, 2020, the Panthers announced they had given Newton permission to seek a trade. However, on March 24, after failing to find a trade partner, the team announced they had officially released Newton.
New England Patriots After nearly three months in free agency, Newton signed a one-year deal with the
New England Patriots on July 8, 2020. The contract included a base salary of $1.05 million, the minimum salary for a player with his amount of experience, and a maximum value of $7.5 million, including incentives and playing time bonuses. Newton was the first successor to 20-year veteran
Tom Brady, who left New England in free agency. He was named starting quarterback and team captain of the Patriots on September 3, beating out veteran
Brian Hoyer and second-year
Jarrett Stidham, which made him the team's first new primary starter since 2002. In his first career start with the Patriots, a Week 1 game at home against the
Miami Dolphins, Newton led the team to a 21–11 victory, completing 15 of 19 passes for 155 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions while carrying the ball 15 times for 75 yards and two rushing touchdowns. After the game ended, Newton was involved in a scuffle with Dolphins defensive lineman
Christian Wilkins and nose tackle
Raekwon Davis, the latter of whom attempted to remove a chain from Newton's neck. During Week 2 against the
Seattle Seahawks on
Sunday Night Football, Newton finished with 397 passing yards, 47 rushing yards, one passing touchdown, an interception, and two rushing touchdowns. At the end of the game, with the Patriots trailing 35–30, Newton attempted to run into the end zone from the one-yard line, but was stopped short, resulting in a Patriots loss. On October 3, 2020, a day before the team's Week 4 matchup against the Chiefs, Newton tested positive for
COVID-19 and the team placed him on the reserve/COVID-19 list, which ultimately postponed the game by one day. He was activated from the list on October 14. In Week 9, in a 30–27 victory over the
New York Jets on
Monday Night Football, Newton passed for 274 yards and had two rushing touchdowns. The performance marked the third time in the 2020 season that Newton had rushed for two touchdowns in one game, matching his career-high of three such games in his rookie season in 2011. In Week 11 against the
Houston Texans, Newton threw for 365 yards and a touchdown during the 27–20 loss. In Week 12 against the
Arizona Cardinals, Newton threw for a season-low 84 yards and two interceptions during the 20–17 win. In Week 13 against the
Los Angeles Chargers, Newton threw for only 69 yards and a touchdown, but rushed for 48 yards and two more touchdowns during the 45–0 win. In Week 16 against the
Buffalo Bills on
Monday Night Football, Newton threw for 34 yards and rushed for 24 yards and a touchdown before being benched in favor of Jarrett Stidham in the third quarter during the 38–9 loss. In Week 17, against the New York Jets, he had 242 passing yards and three touchdowns to go along with his first career touchdown reception on a trick play where
Jakobi Meyers threw to him during the 28–14 win. Newton finished the season with a league-high 12 quarterback rushing touchdowns, the second-highest in a season behind his 14 in 2011. However, Newton threw for 2,657 yards and eight touchdowns, which were the lowest outside of his injury-shortened 2019 campaign. On March 12, 2021, the Patriots re-signed Newton to a one-year deal worth up to $13.6 million. In training camp, he competed with rookie first-round draft pick
Mac Jones. On August 21, he traveled to an appointment outside of the New England area. Despite multiple negative tests for
COVID-19, he was required to stay away from the team facility for five days. This caused him to miss four days of practice prior to their preseason game. He did, however, participate virtually in the practices. Newton was able to return to the team in time for all three preseason games, which he did play in. On August 31, Newton was released from the Patriots during final roster cuts.
Carolina Panthers (second stint) On November 11, 2021, Newton signed a one-year deal worth up to $10 million to return to the Panthers, following an injury to starting quarterback
Sam Darnold. The deal included $4.5 million that was fully guaranteed and a $1.5 million roster bonus. In his first game after re-signing, Newton received limited playing action as the backup to
P. J. Walker in the Week 10 game against the
Arizona Cardinals but made an immediate impact, scoring touchdowns on his first two plays of the game. The first-quarter touchdowns came by way of a two-yard run and a two-yard pass to
Robby Anderson, respectively, and helped the Panthers to a 34–10 win. In his return to Carolina the following week, he was named the starter and scored two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in a 27–21 loss to the
Washington Football Team. Newton remained the starter for the Week 12 loss to the
Miami Dolphins, but was benched in the fourth quarter for Walker after completing 5 of 21 passes for 92 yards, two interceptions, and a 5.8 passer rating. His 23.8 completion percentage was the lowest for a quarterback with at least 20 attempts since
Joey Harrington in 2004. In a Week 14 game against the
Atlanta Falcons, Newton was again named the starter, but split significant playing time with P.J. Walker, ending the game with a team-leading 47 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown, but also having thrown an interception in a 29–21 loss. Newton finished the season with 684 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, five interceptions, 230 rushing yards, and five rushing touchdowns in six games. The Panthers lost all five games he started. ==Career statistics==