Auburn legend essentially shuts door on NFL return with Jets

Auburn football legend Cam Newton seemingly shut the door on a return to the NFL via a free-agent contract with the New York Jets by claiming he’d turn down a contract worth $5.5 million to give their quarterback room depth given Aaron Rodgers’s achilles injury.

“You not about to sit here and penny pinch me, bro,” Newton said (h/t New York Post). “I’m about to sit up here and sign no $5.5 (million) deal, bro. Those days are over with. I’d be wasting my time,” Newton said. “Because I will tell you if you don’t think I could be on a roster right now I could. But it’s bigger than that to me. Am I in shape right now? Hell yeah.

As he explained, Newton refuses to “step aside” if/when Rodgers returns from injury.

“In any situation, I’m gonna sit up there and I’m gonna analyze it as much as possible,” Newton said. “I don’t want to walk into a dysfunctional situation. Have you guys made Zach Wilson aware? Also, Aaron Rodgers is trying to come back this year, let’s also talk about that.

“So when he comes back is it just gonna be something that you just say, ‘Ay watch out.’ So it’s a lot of things that I don’t just make impulse decisions.”

Auburn football legend Cam Newton enjoying life after football

Newton was at the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry game against Georgia on September 30, and despitethe Tigers losing — failing to do what Newton did during his lone matchup against the Bulldogs at Jordan-Hare Stadium –, the 2010 Heisman seemingly had a blast observing his alma mater in action.

Besides that Week 5 appearance on the Plains, Newton has been making rounds on the podcast scene; not to mention producing his own called the “Funky Friday” podcast. With as much fun as he’s having and the lack of a fit in the current NFL landscape, Newton has seemingly that his pro playing career is on hold.

Perhaps indefinitely.