ESPN bringing Cam Newton on as a host of "First Take" was a massive victory for the sports world. Media companies are certainly happy they get to cover the bold takes Auburn football's former Heisman winner shares weekly.
Newton shared one of his wildest takes yet on Thursday.
According to Newton, Jerry Jones is plotting a one-year tank to draft Arch Manning and hire Nick Saban. Brian Schottenheimer is merely a temporary tank enabler, says Newton.
“I think they’re tanking for Arch. Make it make sense. Coach Schottenheimer has one-and-done written all over him,” Newton said, per On3. “Ok, why do you want one and done? You get the first pick of the draft. Not only that, I’m going to go back into my godfather bag and say, ‘Ok, Jerry Jones is a businessman, and he’s going to get into his Don Corleone mentality and he’s going to give him a deal he can’t refuse. Who? Nick Saban. Go get Nick Saban as your head coach and Arch Manning as your No. 1 pick.’”
That's fun for the aggregators. But it's almost certainly not happy.
Jones has made his bed and likely has to lie in it with Dak Prescott's contract. A tear-down year doesn't make sense unless you can offload him. The QB market these days doesn't facilitate teams bailing others out for albatross QB deals. Too much talent comes through the college ranks every year for a team to take on Prescott's deal over the next three years.
As for Newton and his TV career, he's getting it. These types of soundbites help fuel the college football offseason during the Super Bowl media cycle. He certainly provoked the SEC and all things SEC adjacent.
Thursday gave one of the most shocking, though completely unrealistic, rumors of the offseason. The week between the NFL's conference championships and the Pro Bowl needed it.