Will Cam Newton play for Carolina Panthers again this year? SportsLine odds favor 'no'

Kyle Allen announced his presence with authority in Week 3, leading the Carolina Panthers to a road victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Still, the biggest story in Charlotte revolves around the status of 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton and, this week, word came to light that Newton could miss several weeks with an ongoing foot injury. 

Newton is reportedly battling a Lisfranc injury and he brings word of a four-to-eight week recovery period. That projection cites "a non-surgical approach" to the ailment but, at this time, the reporting indicates that the Panthers are not planning to have Newton go under the knife to address the foot issue. 

Newton first injured the foot in the third preseason game against the New England Patriots and returned to the practice field less than two weeks later. From there, he suffered an aggravation during Carolina's Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Newton was subsequently ruled out for the game against Arizona. In his stead, Allen completed 19 of 26 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns in helping to secure a much-needed victory and, in the process, Allen produced a 144.4 passer rating that served as the second-highest mark in that category in Panthers franchise history.

On Monday, Newton was officially ruled out for Week 4 against the Houston Texans. While there were no specifics in terms of his recovery timeline, the Panthers appear to be taking a cautious approach. 

When prompted with a prop of "Will Cam Newton play for the Panthers again in 2019?," SportsLine oddsmakers (for entertainment purposes only) would make the "no" side a 5-7 favorite and the "yes" side a 2-1 underdog. While it is crucial to note that outsiders are operating without complete information from Carolina in terms of expected injury recovery, Allen played quite well in Arizona and Vegas bookmakers now believe that Newton is worth only approximately two points against the spread, down from the 5.5-point move (through zero) that occurred in Week 3 and significantly lower than the typical baseline of 6-7 points assigned to star-level quarterbacks. 

It will be interesting to see when Newton actually returns but, even without the surgery-driven option, there is no guarantee that the well-regarded quarterback returns this season. In fact, Allen could further solidify his standing as the fill-in starter with a solid performance as the Panthers face the Texans as 5-point road underdogs this week. Carolina is 100-1 to win the upcoming Super Bowl.