Cam Newton Feels Every Playoff Quarterback Except Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford Is A “Game Manager”

Cam Newton has ignited another debate by picking only Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford as 'game changer' QBs left in the playoffs.

Cam Newton Feels Every Playoff Quarterback Except Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford Is A “Game Manager”

Bo Nix, Josh Allen and Cam Newton inside the circle (Image via IMAGO)

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Cam Newton isn’t holding back anymore. He believes only two playoff quarterbacks deserve to be called “game changers,” while the rest are simply “game managers.”

With the 16-team playoff set to begin next week, Newton took a closer look at the quarterbacks involved in the latest episode of his 4th & 1 podcast. The Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos clinched the number one seed and a bye, while the rest must qualify by winning their respective wildcard fixtures.

Seattle’s Sam Darnold and Denver’s Bo Nix have had a season to remember. Darnold made history by joining Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning as one of the few quarterbacks to achieve consecutive 13-win seasons with two different teams.

Despite his accomplishments, Darnold didn’t make it into Newton’s ‘game changer’ list, and neither did Nix. The only two players who received the tag are the Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and the Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Drake Maye‘s exclusion from the list is not a big surprise, but it’s even more surprising to see Aaron Rodgers not being a part of it. Despite being 42, Rodgers led the Steelers to a 10-7 season and playoffs, with DK Metcalf missing the final two games due to suspension.

As for Allen, only a week ago, Newton hounded him for missing a wide-open receiver inside the endzone that culminated in a defeat for the Bills.

Game changers [like Josh Allen] gotta make that [game-winning] throw… There are a lot of things Josh Allen does great, and I’ll stand on the table and say that, but he is not held to the same standards as Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson.

Newton had said

Allen and the Bills must defeat Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars (won the AFC South) to have a chance to play in the divisional playoff game.

Cam Newton doesn’t want a quarterback to win the NFL MVP

If fans take a look at the last few NFL MVPs, they will witness a common theme. Voters tend to gravitate towards quarterbacks with the best individual and team records to decide the best player in football.

Cam Newton Feels Every Playoff Quarterback Except Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford Is A Game Manager
Cam Newton (Image via IMAGO)

The pattern has remained the same in 2025. Maye and Stafford are the top favorites to become first-time recipients of football’s biggest individual prize. However, Newton, who won it in 2015, campaigned for Myles Garrett to win it this year.

In a recent segment of ESPN’s First Take, Newton said,

Who does Myles Garrett remind us of? [New York Giants legend] Lawrence Taylor… Won the MVP in 1986 with 20.5 sacks.

Garrett obviously surpassed the record recently. The Cleveland Browns pass rusher racked up 23 sacks to set the NFL sack record by taking down Bengals Burrow.

You don’t see people [coaches] game-planning [for] Drake Maye, respectfully, not even Matthew Stafford as much as they game-plan against Myles Garrett. ..If we’re talking about most valuable player, [Myles Garrett] has shown that he is the most valuable player [MVP]. 

Newton said

Newton’s not a voter (not that he has claimed to be), and thus his statement carries little to no effect in the voting process. Garrett might not win the MVP, but he’s certainly in the running to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. If Garrett does get selected, then he will join a select few with two DPOY accolades (won his first in 2023).

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