Bashing the Chicago Bears for quarterback Jay Cutler's contract has turned into a sport of its own, for understandable reasons. Cutler has nearly as many turnovers (17) this season as the other current NFC North starters have combined (19), and the Bears are only 4-6, even after coming from behind to beat the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. The Bears are not alone. They're part of an NFL fraternity whose membership is growing as teams decide it's better to overpay less-than-elite quarterbacks than to risk winding up without a viable one at all. The Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers have all made similar decisions. They are trying to build championship teams despite the money their quarterbacks will be earning in upcoming years. Are the Carolina Panthers next? Re-signing Cam Newton to a megadeal would be easier to stomach if Newton and the Panthers' offense were on an upward trajectory. But with Newton struggling and the Panthers fading to 3-7-1 after a disheartening defeat to Atlanta, the situation isn't as straightforward as it could have been -- especially after Carolina fired the people responsible for making Newton the first overall choice in the 2011 draft. Insights from around the league inform the discussion while kicking off my 10 takeaways from Week 11. Also in this edition: fallout from the Denver-St. Louis game, plus notes on Marshawn Lynch, Eli Manning, Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Mallett, Josh Gordon and more. 1. Carolina GM Dave Gettleman is the wild card when it comes to re-signing Newton. Most of the league insiders I've spoken with think the Panthers will re-sign Newton before he becomes a free agent in March 2016 (the team exercised their fifth-year option on him already, meaning they have him under contract through the 2015 season). There is at least some thought, however, that if Gettleman were serious about building around Newton, the Panthers would have done more to help the QB this season. Instead, Carolina entered 2014 with less reliable weaponry at wide receiver and with much less talent along the offensive line. Newton hasn't had much chance for success.
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