Cam Newton Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It hasn’t been a great year for the Carolina Panthers.

They made two big offseason moves. One was D.J. Moore and multiple picks, one of which is projected to be the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, to the Chicago Bears in order to trade up to draft quarterback Bryce Young. That hasn’t worked out as Young has had a very pedestrian rookie season, throwing for nine touchdown passes and eight interceptions.

The other move was hiring former Indianapolis Colts head coach and former Panthers quarterback Frank Reich. Reich, who was fired earlier this week, went 1-10 in his 11-week stint with the team.

Former Panther quarterback and 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton addressed the state of the team this week on his 4th & 1 podcast with his guest, Barstool Sports’ Dan Katz.

Newton was critical of Panthers owner David Tepper, saying, “He should have never gotten rid of Steve Wilks.”

Katz agreed, saying, “He had them playing well at the end of last season. They were competing for the NFC South.”

“Steve will never say it, but they didn’t have a good roster,” Newton said. “Tepper got rid of a lot of key guys, Ryan Kalil, myself, Thomas Davis. It’s hard to run a locker room when you got guys that may be kind of getting distracted during the year,” Newton continued, blasting the lack of leadership and culture Tepper has created.

Since buying the team from disgraced former owner Jerry Richardson in 2018, Tepper’s Panthers have gone 30-63 and have had six different head coaches.

[4th & 1]