Carolina Panthers great Cam Newton laid off from ESPN, media reports say
ESPN and Cam Newton are reportedly going their separate ways.
The all-time great quarterback and Carolina Panthers legend is among the latest rounds of layoffs at ESPN, according to multiple media reports including from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.
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Newton’s name appears on a list that includes NFL analyst Ryan Clark, MLB host Karl Ravech, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero and NFL Network analyst Charles Davis, among others.
Newton had signed a multi-year deal with ESPN last summer to expand his role on First Take, the network’s flagship sports debate show. He began his partnership with “The Worldwide Leader In Sports” in October 2024.
The news comes at an interesting time for ESPN. The company acquired NFL Network as part of the NFL’s equity deal with the network that went into effect earlier this year. In an internal memo obtained by The Athletic, ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro stated that “over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN.”
“Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future,” Pitaro’s memo continued. “As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.”
The first rumblings of mass layoffs came Monday, when former Super Bowl-winning safety Ryan Clark was informed of his firing while on NFL Live.
Newton’s tenure at ESPN has largely mirrored his entire media career to date. It’s been wildly compelling — but also not free of mild scandals.
The Panthers’ only MVP in franchise history — who in 11 NFL seasons produced 194 passing touchdowns and 75 rushing touchdowns (second all-time behind Josh Allen) — played his last NFL season with Carolina in 2021, a captivating but ultimately unsuccessful reuniting with the franchise that drafted him No. 1 overall in the 2011 draft.
He began his media career thereafter and has since built quite the following on YouTube and various other platforms, primarily with his show, “4th&1 With Cam Newton,” which as of Tuesday has over 546,000 subscribers. On the show he offers his perspective on sports and culture, and he often shares never-before-told stories about his own playing days in Charlotte.
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His unfiltered confidence has gotten him some good attention. The story he shared about how he started wearing No. 1 in the NFL is a perfect example of his power. The story: Jimmy Clausen, the previous QB, was wearing No. 2, and when Newton asked for the number, Clausen asked for $750,000 for it; Newton declined and memorialized the No. 1 instead.
On First Take and other platforms, he used his playing days to inform his opinions — not just tactically, but also emotionally. In one instance, when discussing if the San Francisco 49ers will make another run at the Super Bowl after losing to the Chiefs, Newton opened up about the notorious play in Super Bowl 50 in which he did not jump on a fumble: “I think that’s what hurts the most,” Newton said in 2024. “It’s not promised for you to go back.”
The podcast was also part of his momentous return to Bank of America Stadium in January, when he took part in the “Keep Pouding” drum tradition before the home playoff game and also hosted his podcast in Uptown Charlotte that afternoon.
His communication style also put him in some hot water with the Panthers fan base, specifically.
That included the time when he said he would not trade his MVP for a Super Bowl. That also included the time when he told Travis Hunter right before the 2025 draft that Newton himself walked into a locker room full of “losers” in Carolina in 2011 and had to change the culture. That exchange sparked an argument between him and other former Panthers, including Steve Smith. The two buried the hatchet on one of Newton’s platforms months later.
Some incidents rose above this one, though. As a guest on the podcast “It’s Giving” with Sarah Fontenot in February, he stated that “women’s value gets lower the more children that they have.”
On his own podcast, he offered a platform to Jason Whitlock, a former ESPN employee and conservative media voice who Netwon has publicly stated he doesn’t like. While the two discussed their differences, Whitlock also took time to bash Stephen A. Smith during his appearance. Smith later went on Newton’s show, where Smith explained why he felt slighted by that.
It is unclear how much longer Newton had on his contract with ESPN at the time of his dismissal from the network.
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