Would Seahawks sign Cam Newton while Russell Wilson is out? Pete Carroll talking to him
Could Cam Newton come help the Seahawks while Russell Wilson remains out?
Pete Carroll has reached out and talked to the former NFL most valuable player and current free-agent quarterback about possibly signing with Seattle.
More than once.
“We are doing everything we can with everybody that’s available. Always,” Carroll said Monday.
It was a day after Wilson missed the first game of his 10-year career because of finger surgery. Geno Smith made his first start in four years. Smith threw a touchdown pass then lost a fumble in overtime to hand the Steelers the winning field goal in 2-4 Seattle’s latest loss, at Pittsburgh.
“I talked to him a couple times,” Carroll said of the 32-year-old Newton. “Just trying to see what was going on in his world, and all of that.
“We are wide open and continuing to compete with that.
“There was nothing to be done then. And we are really counting on Geno to do the job. That’s how the conversation went with (Newton), too, that we are counting on Geno to do the job, and all that.
“So, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens. I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
The Seahawks promoted Jake Luton, a 25-year-old veteran of three NFL games, all last year with Jacksonville, from their practice squad to be Smith’s backup in Pittsburgh. Recently signed Danny Etling, a 27-year-old QB with as many NFL regular-season games as you have, is the third quarterback and on Seattle’s practice squad.
Newton started 15 of 16 games last season in his only year with New England. The Patriots released him Aug. 31 and chose rookie first-round pick Mac Jones as their quarterback for 2021 and beyond. Newton has been unsigned since then.
He said this past weekend on a video he posted online on YouTube he is ready and wants to sign with a team to play this season.
“Hell, yeah, I want to still play football,” Newton said on his “Funky Fridays with Cam Newton” online series.
“And, I got the vaccination.”
That makes it easier for a team to sign him and play him right away.
According to NFL COVID-19 protocols for the 2021 season, vaccinated free agents or players acquired from other teams must have one negative COVID-19 test before entering a team’s facility. Unvaccinated free agents who sign with new teams have a five-day testing period before they can enter a team facility.
Carroll’s and Seattle’s interest in Newton, the 2015 All-Pro with Carolina and the Panthers’ first-overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft, raises questions about how long the Seahawks believe Wilson is going to be out.
Wilson went on injured reserve officially on Saturday. Per league rules he must miss a minimum of three games before he can return off IR. The Pittsburgh game Sunday night was the first game.
Wilson was on the field during early pregame warm-ups running through a simulated hurry-up series of plays, solo, doing everything but throwing the ball while his throwing hand was wrapped in a black cover that run up to his wrist.
During the game, he was relegated to wearing a team jacket, standing next to Carroll during possessions and consulting with Smith, the offensive line and a mobile tablet to view Steelers defensive looks between Seattle’s offensive series.
“Definitely different, for me,” Wilson told The News Tribune early Monday morning in Pittsburgh, on his way to the team bus and long trip home.
The soonest Wilson could return is after Seattle’s bye, Nov. 7. That would be for the team’s game at Green Bay on Nov. 14.
Asked Monday if he had any indication whether that’s when Wilson will play again after tearing a tendon and dislocating the middle finger on his right hand, Carroll said: “I don’t know that, not the medical side of this thing.
“But I know Russell. If it’s possible, it’ll happen. If it’s possible, it’s going to happen.
“I don’t know if you guys saw him last night and the way he was preparing and going after it. He is not going to miss a trick.
“So, I don’t but anything past him, beyond his capabilities. He can do some special stuff.
“We’ll see what happens.”
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 4:11 PM.
