Could Cam Newton steer Deshaun Watson away from the Panthers?

Could the Carolina Panthers’ handling of the Cam Newton situation come back and haunt them in their pursuit of Deshaun Watson?

The Carolina Panthers are looking to be aggressive in their pursuit of landing a quarterback this offseason. They were big players in the Matthew Stafford talks and even got as far as seeking his medical records before the Los Angeles Rams came in with a better offer that included two first-round selections and Jared Goff.

This made their intentions clear, at the very least. So it would be a surprise if the Panthers didn’t also make a substantial offer to try and tempt the Houston Texans into trading their franchise signal-caller in the coming weeks.

Deshaun Watson is far from happy in Houston and with team owner Cal McNair in particular. A series of broken promises left the player with no other option other than to hand in a trade request and this should have almost every NFL franchise trying to put together the right sort of pieces to land an elite quarterback entering his prime.

The Texans might hold the cards for now. But the longer this situation goes on, teams will start looking elsewhere which would see the market shrink for Watson and the bidding war not reach what the organization might hope for.

There is also the no-trade clause in Watson’s new contract to consider. He’ll have the final say on any agreement and if reports are to be believed, the player is interested in a move to the Pathers and back to an area where he starred for Clemson in college.

However, could their treatment of Cam Newton last year play a factor in Carolina trying to get Watson on board?