Cam Newton to Meet with Nine Teams Before NFL Draft

Quarterback Cam Newton will meet with nine teams before the 2011 NFL Draft. It shows that quite a few teams are interested in Newton still, and that he could become one of the first picks in the draft. The assumption is that he will be meeting with teams that are strongly considering a change at quarterback for the future, and these appear to be the teams that are ready to take a risk in the draft.

According to ESPN, all nine meetings have been set up between Sunday, March 27 and April 18. On Sunday he will meet with the Miami Dolphins and then on Monday will visit with the Buffalo Bills. Both of those workouts are scheduled to take place at Auburn University, where Newton played his final year of college football.

The rest of Newton's workouts include the Minnesota Vikings (March 30), Cincinnati Bengals (April 3), Carolina Panthers (April 5), Tennessee Titans (April 6), Cleveland Browns (April 13), Washington Redskins (April 15), and finally the Denver Broncos (April 18). During that time, Newton will actually meet with the Bengals a second time on April 12, showing that they could be very serious about trying to acquire him in the draft.

Newton is a big quarterback at 6'6" and 250 pounds, and he could possibly become an NFL star in the right environment. During his final year in college, he helped win Auburn a college football national championship while passing for 2,854 yards and rushing for another 1,473. He also had 30 passing touchdown and 20 rushing touchdowns that helped him to win the Heisman Trophy Award.

In the latest NFL mock draft from Todd McShay at ESPN, Newton is the projected to go fifth in the 2011 NFL Draft to the Arizona Cardinals. It is a bit surprising then, that Arizona does not have another meeting set up with Newton before the NFL Draft. McShay also states that Missouri's Blaine Gabbert will be the first quarterback selected in the draft, and that he will go at No. 3 to the Buffalo Bills.

With so many teams needing a new quarterback, including Carolina, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Tennessee Titans, it could lead to a very interesting few days at the draft. Many teams might hope to grab a quarterback in the second or third rounds, causing some very talented quarterbacks to drop out of the first round. That could cause several teams to pass on Newton unless they are blown away in the workouts.

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