Cam Newton once said he wouldn’t trade his NFL MVP for a Super Bowl, and now he’s doubling down on the hot take.
After seeing Joe Flacco lead the Cincinnati Bengals to a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Newton went on First Take and suggested the Cleveland Browns should have kept the 40-year-old quarterback and paired him with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown. Newton argued Brown would have been willing to leave the defending Super Bowl champions for the chance to be in a more pass-heavy offense, even if that offense was in Cleveland.
Newton’s take prompted Ryan Clark to pose the topic of what’s more important, individual statistics or team success?
“Would you rather be in a spot where you could individually achieve, have success, have statistics and lose? Or would you want to be someone that contributes to a team that can win a Super Bowl?” Clark asked.
“When you’re talking about individual play, this is how I take care of my family. Team success don’t take care of my family.” – Cam Newton pic.twitter.com/6I6UUytLCP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 17, 2025
“I’m glad you asked that. When you’re talking about individual play, this is how I take care of my family,” Newton answered. “Team success don’t take care of my family. So, if I’m thinking about it from a personal standpoint, of course we want the best of both worlds. But if you’re asking me what gives you extensions, what gives you top tier money, what gives you certain things – there’s more players that have rings, championships and things that are struggling, rather than ‘busts’ that have money and are doing right by their money.”
Old adages like ‘there’s no I in team’ or ‘putting your team first’ might sound good in theory, but not if it means potentially taking money out of Cam Newton’s pocket. And this isn’t a new mentality for Newton. In January, Newton told Stephen A. Smith he wouldn’t trade his NFL MVP for a Super Bowl.
“If you could give back that league MVP for a Super Bowl championship, would you do it?” Smith asked on First Take earlier this year.
“No,” Newton said without hesitation. “That was a very journalistic viewpoint, vantage-point or response, Stephen A. I’ll ask you this question, what’s more important, impact or championships?”
Newton went on to cite other quarterbacks such as Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer and Nick Foles, who won Super Bowls, but not regular season MVPs. And with a regular season MVP on his resume, Newton wouldn’t trade his NFL career for theirs.
It’s easy to jump on Newton for being so honest and use this admission to explain why he didn’t jump on a fumble in Super Bowl 50. But there are levels to this debate. You can understand Newton not wanting to trade his career for Trent Dilfer’s. But you would expect Newton and every other quarterback to be willing to trade a few regular season stats and touchdowns for more team success.
If it was a wide receiver or running back making this declaration, it wouldn’t be so polarizing. But quarterbacks are expected to be leaders and have a team-first mentality. And Newton is admitting that as a quarterback, putting the team first wasn’t always his priority.