Panthers Notes: Newton, Hostler, Obada
Cam Newton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on Thursday, the Panthers announced. While Carolina did say Newton will immediately begin his rehabilitation process, the team did not provide a timeline for his recovery. However, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link) hears the signal-caller’s procedure was not of the “major reconstructive” variety, while Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets the operation was relatively minor. Indeed, Newton is expected to resume throwing by the time organized team activities begin in May, per Breer.
Here’s more from Carolina:
- The Panthers — who currently run a 4-3 defense — may implement more 3-4 looks in 2019, according to Joseph Person of The Athletic. While it doesn’t appear Carolina will make a full-fledged change to a 3-4 front, the club does plan on deploying multiple defensive schemes. Dontari Poe would become a natural nose tackle (a role he played in Kansas City), while Luke Kuechly and Shaq Thompson would handle middle linebacker. The real issue, however, would be finding edge rushers that could fit into a 3-4 scheme. The Panthers’ potential shift isn’t necessarily being driven by change in personnel or coaching, as defensive coordinator Eric Washington is remaining in place while head coach Ron Rivera will continue to call defensive plays.
- Former Packers passing game coordinator Jim Hostler has been hired as the Panthers’ new wide receivers coach, the club recently announced. Hostler, 52, is a long-time NFL coach with experience dating back to 2000. He spent only one season in Green Bay working with the team’s offense, and wasn’t retained when the Packers hired new head coach Matt LaFleur. Hostler, who is replacing Lance Taylor on Carolina’s staff, will work with a wideout group that currently includes D.J. Moore, Torrey Smith, Curtis Samuel, and Jarius Wright (plus pending free agent Devin Funchess).
- Defensive end Efe Obada‘s one year-deal with the Panthers is worth $570K, tweets David Newton of ESPN.com. The minimum salary for a player with one year of NFL experience (like Obada) will be $555K in 2019, so Carolina is giving the 27-year-old a slight pay bump. Obada was scheduled to become an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he wouldn’t have hit the open market unless the Panthers opted to non-tender him.
Panthers Re-Sign DE Efe Obada
The Panthers re-signed Efe Obada to a one-year deal, the team announced. The defensive end was set to be an exclusive rights free agent this offseason, so he would not have hit the open market anyway unless the Panthers renounced his rights. 
Obada made history when he became the first player to move from the league’s International Pathway Program to an active roster. The defensive end, who has also had stints with the Chiefs, Falcons, and Cowboys, finished out the year with two sacks. He also earned NFC defensive player of the week honors for his September performance against the Bengals in which he recorded a sack and an interception. That game marked his NFL debut and it could not have gone better for him.
“I’m very grateful. It’s another opportunity to contribute to the team and obviously support myself and my family,” said the Nigeria-born player, who plans to spend most of his offseason in England.
In 2019, Obada says he’s eager to take another giant step forward.
“The main thing for me is being consistent and trusting my training,” Obada said. “I’m going to work on my weaknesses – knowledge of the game, just recognizing things a bit quicker in terms of my keys against the run and things like that. I definitely want to step into a more secure role, into a leadership role on this team. That’s what I’m working toward.”
Panthers Owner Discusses Cam Newton Injury
There have been whispers that Cam Newton could sit out the 2019 campaign as he recovers from a sore right shoulder. While Panthers owner David Tepper didn’t explicitly say that the Panthers franchise quarterback could miss the upcoming campaign, he did explain how that scenario could end up being a positive. Tepper specifically compared the situation to Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who missed the entire 2017 campaign before coming back for a productive 2018 season.
“If you told me he took a year off and could recover and be fully recovered and everything else, and that’s what it took, an extra year, why wouldn’t you do [that]?” Tepper told ESPN’s David Newton. “Now we would have to do other things, right? We’d have to go out and get another quarterback. If you could find me some more cap space I’d appreciate that.”
Through 14 games in 2018, Newton completed a career-high 67.9-percent of his passes for 3,395 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also ran for another 488 yards and four scores. With strength in his shoulder fading, the Panthers decided to shut down Newton for the final two games of the season.
Tepper, who purchase the franchise for more than $2B back in May, recognizes that it would ultimately be in the organization’s best interest if Newton is at full health.
“When you make a decision, this gets into business, or here … you want to keep your options open as much as possible,” Tepper said. “And you want to put yourself in a position to win. Not a position to lose, but a position to win…That means keep your options open and try to have as much [cap] space as you possibly can.
“Hopefully, Cam’s shoulder is fantastic, right? And we’re hunky dory, all fantastic. If it’s not, you may need more cap space. You may need to go out and find somebody. If you don’t, you guys are going to be writing what a dope we are here. Why did we make these other moves? So think about that. You want to keep your options open, put yourself in best position as you can to win, and I’m talking again for the long term.”
Newton detailed several ways the Panthers could open up cap space this winter, noting that they could clear $7.2MM by releasing offensive lineman Matt Kalil and another $3.5MM by releasing cornerback Captain Munnerlyn.
Panthers Owner Discusses Decision To Keep Rivera, Hurney
- Panthers owner David Tepper told reports that he didn’t want to “make rash decision[s]” on the status of head coach Ron Rivera and general manager Marty Hurney (via Joe Person of The Athletic on Twitter). Ultimately, the owner judge the duo throughout the entire 2018 season (not just the stretch run), and this led to him retaining the pair for the 2019 season.
[SOURCE LINK]
Panthers Hire Perry Fewell
- The Panthers have hired Bills/Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell as their new defensive backs coach, the club announced. Fewell, who served as Buffalo’s interim head coach for seven games in 2009, worked with Carolina coach head coach Ron Rivera in Chicago in 2005. The Panthers still have Richard Rodgers in place as a secondary coach, but they’ve lost multiple defensive backs coach within the past year. Curtis Fuller resigned as the team’s secondary coach last summer, while assistant Jeff Imamura was fired as part of a housecleaning in early December.
Joe Woods Deciding Between Cards, Redskins
Former Broncos defensive coordinator Joe Woods will interview for the Redskins’ defensive backs coach job, and then decide between joining Washington or the Cardinals in the same role, according to Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link).
Woods, who succeeded Wade Phillips as Denver’s defensive coordinator in 2017, doesn’t appear to be generating any DC interest around the NFL despite leading a defense that’s ranked top-10 in DVOA in each of the past two seasons (including fifth in 2018). Arizona would seem to be a natural destination for Woods, as he’d once again be working under ex-Broncos head coach Vance Joseph, who was recently hired as the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator.
Meanwhile in Denver, co-defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson is not expected to return as a member of new head coach Vic Fangio‘s staff, and he’s also drawing interest from the Cardinals, tweets Klis. The Broncos’ other secondary coach — Greg Williams — won’t be back either, and he’s been linked to the Panthers and the Lions, per Klis.
Latest On Eric Reid
We have a new update on the Eric Reid situation. The Panthers safety has been griping for a while now about the NFL targeting him with incessant drug tests in retaliation for his collusion suit against the league, and the league and NFLPA issued a statement a few days ago saying there was no evidence to support his claims. Reid isn’t dropping the issue however, and his lawyers are rejecting the contents of the letter released by the league, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
“They claim that some of the dates the NFL used in its report are incorrect”, and “want access to all evidence, records, electronic messages and information sources used to determine the findings within the report”, La Canfora writes. It’s unclear what his potential next step is, but this probably isn’t the last we’ll hear of it. We also heard a few weeks ago that the Panthers were interested in bringing Reid back in 2019 and had already reached out to his agent about a new deal.
Browns To Interview Steve Wilks, Interested In Steve Spagnuolo
The Browns are interviewing former Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks for their open defensive coordinator position on Friday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Cleveland also has interest in former Giants DC Steve Spagnuolo and could meet with him in the near future, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Cleveland is searching for a new defensive play-caller after new head coach Freddie Kitchens dismissed Gregg Williams earlier this week. Given that he’s handling the offense, Kitchens would likely give his new DC great autonomy. As a former head coach, Wilks would be ready for that responsibility, and despite his lack of success in the desert, his 2017 Panthers defense played extremely well, ranking seventh in DVOA.
Wilks is unlikely to reunite with Carolina, tweets Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. There’d been some thought that Wilks would head back to the Panthers after his sole season with Arizona, but that won’t be happening. Carolina is retaining DC Eric Washington, while head coach Ron Rivera will call the team’s defensive plays.
Spagnuolo, meanwhile, didn’t coach in 2018, but is highly respected around the NFL for his work as the Giants’ DC. The 59-year-old also comes with head coaching experience, as he led the Rams from 2009-11.
Eric Washington Will Remain Panthers DC
Eric Washington will return as the Panthers‘ defensive coordinator in 2019, according to Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer. Head coach Ron Rivera took over defensive play-calling late last season and will continue with those responsibilities next year, but Washington will be back as DC. Carolina is interviewing former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and former Jaguars defensive backs coach Perry Fewell, but neither of those potential hire would affect Washington’s standing on the Panthers’ staff.
Jets Interested In Gregg Williams, Chuck Pagano
Former Browns interim head coach Gregg Williams is in consideration for the Jets’ defensive coordinator position under new head coach Adam Gase, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The Jets’ list also includes Chuck Pagano, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
The Browns went 5-3 under Williams in the second half of 2018, but the Browns gave most of the credit for that to offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, who was promoted to the role of head coach this week. After Kitchens was bumped up, the Browns and Williams parted ways.
Williams was widely mocked for last year’s assertion that several teams wanted him as a head coach, but there’s no denying that he is a highly-respected defensive mind. The Jets have serious holes on defense – specifically, their pass rush – but there is an opportunity for Williams to thrive in New York with players like safety Jamal Adams and $100MM+ in expected cap room to address areas of need.
Pagano’s name has surfaced again in the latest coaching cycle and he interviewed for the Packers’ and Broncos’ top jobs. At this stage, he’s realistically only in the running for lower staff positions. Aside from the Jets’ reported interest, the Panthers are set to meet with him to discuss their defensive backs coach position, according to Mike Florio of PFT.