NFL: Preseason-Buffalo Bills at Carolina Panthers
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Cam Newton sounds like a man possessed. There have been times in his football life when he's had to prove himself, yes, but they all mostly pale in comparison to what he's squaring off against in 2020. This offseason, while rehabbing from an injury that cost him 14 games in 2019, the former league MVP was first put on the trading block by the only team he's ever known and became a legend for, the Carolina Panthers; only to be released outright by incoming head coach Matt Rhule as the team then signed Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year, $63 million contract to replace him. He then spent roughly three months unemployed before receiving only one offer -- a one-year, minimum salary deal with the New England Patriots that All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman called "disgusting". 

Newton made it clear he accepted a contract that pays him less than backups who can't hold a candle to his NFL resume because it's "not about the money," but it's instead "about the respect," and he's hammering that point home in a big way now that the ink on his new deal is dry. Being asked to replace Tom Brady is a tall task, but that's not what's driving Newton in 2020. 

What's driving him is having seen many teams write him off following the injury that cost him 14 games in 2019, instead choosing to sign unproven guys while he sat waiting for an offer that didn't come until Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick gave him a call.

"You're gonna choose that over this?" Newton asked generally in a recent and intense Instagram video. "Be a fool if you want to. I'm really a monster, but I'll tell you this: I'm getting tired of being humble now."

The former first-overall pick wasn't done with his message to his doubters, and went on to issue a warning of what's to come.

"I'm a m-----------g killer. I'm really a killer," he said. "You feel me? I'm getting tired of all this humble s---t because, when you're humble, they start taking advantage of you. When you don't say nothing, they start taking advantage of you. But the hyenas can be doing all they do, and the elephants can be doing all of what they do -- the giraffes, the antelopes, the chimpanzees, even the gorilla. 

"But there's one m-----------g animal in the jungle and when he roars, everything stops. And I'm about to m-----------g roar."

Not everyone believes Newton's career near over, however, with Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner predicting a resurgent year in 2020 that could mirror what he did in yesteryear when he too was written off prematurely. There's also no clause in Newton's new contract -- one that will pay him up to $7.5 million if he earns all of his incentives above his $1.05 million base salary -- that prevents the Patriots from franchise tagging him in 2021, if all goes to plan in 2020 and no longterm deal is reached by the NFL deadline in March. If that happens, Newton will not only have proven himself still a premier quarterback when healthy, but he could find himself tied to a projected $37 million tender next season.

But in achieving that potential monetary goal, it would mean he achieved his primary one of reminding the league he's still as dangerous as he's ever been, if not more so, now that his back is pressed firmly against the wall. And last time he checked, lions didn't like being backed into corners.