The hot take machine is sputtering as we inch toward Week 1 of the NFL season.
Former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said Friday that the Micah Parsons trade doesn’t make the Green Bay Packers a true threat to the NFC. Newton, who just signed a multi-year deal with ESPN that will expand his role on “First Take,” said the Packers can’t be a threat until they’ve overcome the Detroit Lions.
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“They’re not better than Detroit, even after this Micah Parsons pick,” Newton said. “You can’t say with a straight face that they are.”
The Packers acquired Parsons, a 26-year-old former All-Pro, in exchange for two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Kenny Clark. Parsons then signed a four-year, $188 million deal to stay in Green Bay.
The topic on “First Take” that Newton was responding to suggested that the Packers would now be the biggest threat to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC.
“Are the Packers still one of the youngest teams in the NFL? Absolutely. Is Micah Parsons still a young player? Absolutely,” Newton said. “These are things that you can grow and build upon — but when you’re saying they’re instant Super Bowl contenders? No, not so fast. I’m not going for that?”
Newton went on to acknowledge that the Packers within the next three years have the talent to meet those expectations, but that they still have to prove it.
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“They have to go through Detroit to be a threat to Philly.”
The Lions have won six of their last seven games against the Packers.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Cam Newton blasts the idea that the Packers are better than the Lions