Two other quarterbacks who won a Heisman Trophy, led their schools to national championships and went No. 1 overall remain on the free agent market in Cam Newton and Jameis Winston. Newton, incidentally, did win Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011, but Winston finished second in 2015 to then-Rams running back Todd Gurley.
Here at SportsLine, we've released various odds/stories on where Newton and Winston might land, but there's no point in speculating now because the market for each is going to shrink a bit following the draft.
Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette made some waves this week when he doubled-down on the hopes his team would sign Newton to provide competition for young QB Gardner Minshew II.
"It's no disrespect to Minshew. I'm just trying to get into the best position as a team [so] we can win. That's all that was about. Just friendly competition, because [it] brings out the best in people," Fournette said on ESPN this week. Last month after Newton was released by the Panthers, Fournette wrote in Instagram: "@CameronNewton What we doing teaming up or what?"
The Jaguars seem unlikely to take a quarterback fairly early in the draft, so Newton may well end up in Jacksonville. The Los Angeles Chargers have been mentioned as possible suitors for both, but if the Bolts take either Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert early in Round 1 on Thursday as expected, that would presumably rule them out as the Bolts have Tyrod Taylor ready to start in 2020.
Ditto Miami, which is expected to take either Tua or Herbert – there's a yes-only prop at William Hill the Fins take one of them priced -400 (wager $400 to win $100) -- and has Ryan Fitzpatrick as the bridge quarterback.
No CBS Sports mock drafts have the Denver Broncos taking a quarterback early, and they have a very inexperienced starter in Drew Lock. Thus, Denver might make sense for Newton or Winston.
However, easily the most interesting team to watch from a quarterback perspective in the draft is New England after losing Tom Brady to Winston's Bucs. If Bill Belichick takes a quarterback in the first or second round – Jordan Love? Jacob Eason? – then Newton/Winston likely can forget joining the Patriots. They also have been linked to Andy Dalton.
