2020 NFL Free Agency: 5 Teams who should target QB Philip Rivers

2019 Starting QB: Cam Newton, Kyle Allen

Cap Space: $32,208,165

For Rivers to come to Carolina, there needs to be an elephant removed from the room: Cam Newton. With a team-friendly contract (one-year, $18.6 million) and plenty of time removed from his previous injuries, Newton could be a trade target for numerous teams throughout the NFL (see this article for more information).

With the offense being centered around the first MVP-candidate running back in recent memory in Christian McCaffrey, Rivers would have the weight of carrying an offense lifted off of his shoulders and be relegated to a game-managers. At this stage in his career and his performance in 2019, this should not be considered a step-back as much as a re-labeling for the veteran quarterback.

There is value in being able to play smart at the quarterback position, and the other young options for Carolina in the 2020 NFL draft wouldn’t be able to provide that kind of stable production.

If Carolina is to center this offense around McCaffrey, they will need to expend either a portion of their cap space or mid-round draft capital in finding him a suitable running partner to take some of the workload.

As seen with Alvin Kamara‘s 2019 season, losing a complementing running back can severely hamper production and create additional barriers for a running back to work through. The days of a single feature back are over, and teams need to acknowledge that even their biggest stars need help.