Have the Panthers committed to Cam Newton?

NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport set the yawning NFL world on fire this morning with two tweets, citing sources, that the Carolina Panthers have committed to Cam Newton as their quarterback. He alleges that the team has enough of a rebuild on their hands elsewhere that they don’t also need one at quarterback.

Recent reports have Newton’s rehab progressing well. He is expected to begin football activities in March, but there has been no definition offered as to whether or not that means he will begin the offseason without restrictions or not. That lack of definition probably isn’t David Tepper, Matt Rhule, Marty “Meatballs” Hurney, and the rest of the Panthers brain trust playing it coy. It is likely that they simply have to wait, just like Cam and just like the rest of us, to see how Newton’s foot will heal. Barring that information, they can’t make—and therefore cannot leak—a committed plan for Newton’s future with the Panthers.

Rhule is scheduled to speak to the press this afternoon at the combine. Odds are he will be asked about Newton and will provide some very noncommittal answers about how they have their fingers crossed that Newton’s rehab is progressing well.

We will keep you updated here at Cat Scratch Reader as this story actually develops.