Report: Cam Newton to have foot surgery

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is set to have surgery on his injured foot, according to Tiffany Blackmon. Newton suffered a Lisfranc foot injury in the preseason and aggravated the injury in Week 2. He was placed on injured reserve in Week 10. There is some thought he might have come back from IR if he could have, but with the Panthers’ playoff hopes significantly diminished, it would seem to officially end that thought.

Newton has been considering surgery for some time now, and one report has the recovery time between two and three months. If he ends up taking the full three months, that would have him plenty healthy in time for the April start of a team’s offseason workout program.

I say “a team” because there is talk he could be traded in the offseason. The Panthers fired head coach Ron Rivera, and could still make some significant changes in their personnel department. There has been some chatter they might trade Newton as he heads into the final season of his contract. He is due a base salary of $18.6 million, and considering the value of quarterbacks and how good Newton is when healthy, that should be easy to move if that’s what the Panthers want to do.

Any trade cannot officially happen until the new league year starts in March. Teams will discuss deals before then on the down low, but any official trade will not be until mid-March.