The Facts: New HC Matt Rhule is billed as a builder, motivator and innovator coming out of Baylor. The first step in building any NFL program is the quarterback. During his introductory press conference Wednesday, Rhule was asked about the question on the mind of every Panthers fan: What is the plan with Cam Newton? "I probably haven't had a chance with regards to really any player to get to talk to Marty [Hurney] and Mr. [David] Tepper in terms of long-term vision, so I would never want to speak out of school or uneducatedly," Rhule responded. "What I will say is this: I had a chance to talk to Cam yesterday, and I have the utmost respect for him and what he's done, and I love the way he talked to me, to be quite honest. He didn't want to talk about the past. He wanted to talk about the future. But other than that, I would much rather talk to those guys and kind of get a feel for not just Cam but all those players on the roster and really have a good process moving forward for the entire roster."
Diehards Line:The question about Newton's future in Carolina has swirled for months. The former NFL MVP missed all but two games of the 2019 campaign due to a foot injury. The latest injury comes after Newton dealt with shoulder issues the previous two years. With Cam entering the final year of his contract, there has been rampant speculation that the Panthers could move on. At this early stage, Rhule wasn't willing to dig into any eventuality at the quarterback position. Rhule later told NFL Network's Tiffany Blackmon he plans to dig into the QB position in short order. ... Stay tuned.