Kelvin Benjamin picked the worst time to go at Cam Newton

The comments drew essentially a shrug from Newton on social media. They did, however, elicit a impassioned response from Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, who said that Cam has been the best thing that has happened to his career, and no one currently on the team has anything negative to say about the starting quarterback.

Benjamin’s rookie season in 2014 with Newton at the helm had the receiver looking poised for stardom. The 6-5 wideout hauled in nine touchdowns and put up 1,008 yards receiving. Unfortunately for all parties involved, Benjamin missed all of the following year with a torn ACL in his left knee suffered during preseason. It just so happens the season he missed was easily the best of Newton’s pro career, in which Cam threw for 35 touchdowns, rushed for 10 more, won MVP and dazzled the football world before falling short in the Super Bowl against a punishing Broncos defense.

There were, and still are, plenty of Newton detractors ready to pounce on him for being reticent in the postgame interview following the Super Bowl loss. But with some distance and some sanity, it should be clear it was a remarkable feat to put up the numbers he did and make it to the Super Bowl when his pass targets were largely Ted Ginn, Olsen, and a mix of Corey Brown and Devin Funchess. Surely, Benjamin was frustrated to miss that season, but the feeling had to be at least somewhat mutual. With Benjamin, the Panthers would have been that much stronger on offense, possibly even enough so to get past Denver with one more reliable option in the pass game.

Benjamin returned the following year, a letdown one for the Panthers and Newton as well. Cam didn’t play as well as his MVP season, and Benjamin’s numbers experienced a slight dip but were comparable to those of his rookie season. Through eight starts in 2017 before getting traded from Carolina, his yardage was about on average through eight starts, yet he only had two touchdowns.

For whatever reason, Benjamin wasn’t falling off entirely, but he still wasn’t able to take the next step from a rookie season that positioned him as a future star. That he did little in his first six games in Buffalo isn’t the biggest indictment — it’s difficult in football to join a new team midseason and make a huge immediate impact.

But just as there have been knocks on Newton throughout the years, there have been some on Benjamin. His offseason conditioning was a frequent complaint in Carolina. Touching on the weight issue, Shannon Sharpe dropped a patented cable show hot take on Kelvin's comments by saying, "No, the buffet was a bad fit. Because you ate yourself out of a job."

Newton may not be wholesale inaccurate. There have been some mechanical complaints with him over the years, as players and fans have pointed out he often drills passes in the short and medium range that could stand to benefit from some touch. As more of a long-ball threat, that's not the type of thing that should affect Benjamin, however.

Furthermore, to say that Newton is not at all knowledgeable about what plays out on the field is silly and easily countered based on one of the more memorable moments from last season. In a game against the Packers, Clay Matthews called out a wheel route the Panthers use before the snap. Recognizing that Green Bay was on to the play, Newton joked while under center, “Oh, you been watching film, huh? That’s cool, watch this!” He then changed the play and threw a touchdown to Christian McCaffrey.

That hardly seems the stuff of a quarterback who doesn’t have a grasp on what’s going on.

It’s impossible for fans to know if there were chemistry issues between Newton and Benjamin. The quarterback hasn’t been shy about mixing it up with teammates he’s had problems with in the past, most notably a training camp fight with then-Panthers cornerback Josh Norman in 2015. It’s quite possible the two had problems getting along as the years went by, and that precipitated the receiver’s departure from Carolina. That Benjamin seems to be dwelling on what happened would suggest as much.

Either way, there’s little for Benjamin to gain for badmouthing Newton now that training camp is underway. It reeks of sour grapes during a time when a receiver should be fixated on the upcoming season and will be excoriated for not doing so. Even Bills coach Sean McDermott weighed in with disapproval for Kelvin’s comments, making sure to note the poor timing. 

The Bills and Panthers square off in each team’s preseason opener on Thursday. Few outside the media are concerned about preseason storylines, but suffice to say there won’t be a sunny reunion if the players get a chance to meet before the proceedings. What's more, Kelvin Benjamin needs to have an impressive first full season in Buffalo or else many will feel safe concluding he was the problem all along.