The last Auburn football player to win the Heisman trophy and the main architect behind the lone National Championship the Tigers have in the 21st century shouldn’t be unemployed right now.
While it was nice to have Cam Newton side by side with Bruce Pearl and the men’s basketball team (and Maddie Prewett) in the student section of this past Saturday’s matinee against the Georgia Bulldogs, the 2015 NFL MVP should have been preparing for a start on Sunday.
Unfortunately for Newton, and Auburn football fans everywhere, that opportunity didn’t exist and hasn’t since the New England Patriots cut the ten-year veteran just prior to 2021’s opening kickoff.
Fortunately for Newton and the Auburn family, there is a prime opportunity that has opened up in the wake of Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson’s recent surgery on the middle finger of his throwing hand.
Auburn football legend Cam Newton should be the next Seattle Seahawks QB
At the moment, Newton is superior to the only option on hand for the Seahawks. Geno Smith is the new de facto starter, which should sound the alarm for the 12th Man up in the Pacific Northwest.
The former West Virginia Mountaineer’s best season from a numbers perspective was a 13 touchdown, 13 interception campaign in his second season with the New York Jets. From a record standpoint, his initial season in the Big Apple was his best (8-8) but even then his INT total (21) eclipsed his TD total (12). He’s been nothing but a spot starter since, bouncing around the NY Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, and now Seattle Seahawks franchises.
Sure, Pete Carroll could roll the dice on Smith realizing his potential more than eight years after being drafted. He could also pursue the likes of Robert Griffin III, Blake Bortles, or Alex Smith, as 12th Man Rising suggested.
Then again, with a guy who is nine months removed from putting up 342 all-purpose yards and three TDs without an INT in a single game sitting on the free agent market, the payoff may be higher with a dice roll on someone who has reached a championship game at both the collegiate and pro levels as his locker-room’s undisputed leader.