CHARLOTTE http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-austin-seibert-jersey , N.C. (AP) — Panthers coach Ron Rivera hasn’t ruled out shutting down quarterback Cam Newton for the season because of a sore right throwing shoulder.Rivera said Tuesday he plans to meet with Newton later in the week and figure out where he is “in terms of his physical state and mental state” before deciding if he will start Sunday against Atlanta.“It’s a tough situation right now,” Rivera added. “Until I get a chance to visit with him I’m not going to speculate.”“I’m not looking forward to that conversation,” Newton said after Carolina’s 12-9 loss to the Saints on Monday night.The eighth-year quarterback was noticeably frustrated talking about his lingering shoulder injury. The chiseled 6-foot-5, 245-pounder was a mere shell of his former self, struggling to throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field.Newton’s frustration stems from not knowing exactly what the issue is with his shoulder.“I think the thing, when you talk to different people who can help you with it, is that there’s not any magical surgery or whatever. It’s just time,” Newton said. “I’ve tried and done everything.”He’s been taking anti-inflammatories, getting massages and trying acupuncture. He said there hasn’t been a night that’s gone by without having some type of work done on his shoulder.Newton has been on a “pitch count” in practice for the better part of the season, often not throwing at all on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the week so he can rest.Nothing seems to work.He said the shoulder is not getting worse Trysten Hill Jersey , but it’s not getting better either.However, the missed time in practice is affecting his timing with his receivers and he doesn’t have the same zip on the ball as he did when he led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in the 2015 season, throwing for 35 touchdowns.“I’ve been eager to go to (head trainer Ryan Vermillion’s) office, weeks and weeks and weeks and kind of find out what it is. ‘Did you find something? What am I supposed to do? What do we have to do?'” Newton said. “… It is what it was, just a lot of soreness and tension in the joints.”Without a diagnosis that demands he sits out, Newton has continued to play through the pain — and the frustration.He doesn’t even know if he will need another surgery after the season.Rivera doesn’t seem to know exactly what’s wrong with Newton either, referring all injury-related questions to the team’s medical staff. The Associated Press requested to talk to Vermillion through the team’s PR department, but he was not made available for comment.The Panthers (6-8) still have a very slim chance of making the playoffs — less than one percent, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com —but have lost six straight and morale is low.But that still could be enough to convince Rivera to stick with Newton another week.“Believe it or not, there’s a slim glimmer http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-connor-mcgovern-jersey , so we’ll see,” Rivera said of the decision to start Newton on Sunday.Center Ryan Kalil said “nobody is more frustrated than Cam.”“I’ve played a long time with the guy and he takes it personal. It’s been a frustrating season, needless to say,” Kalil said.He called Newton one of the toughest players he’s ever played with.“I’ve seen the guy take hits and get his body up, game after game, season after season,” Kalil said. “Hits that I have seen him take other guys wouldn’t get up from. He fights through a lot of stuff.”Newton’s stats were miserable against the Saints — 16 of 29 for 131 yards for a season-low 52.5 passer rating, by far the worst of the season. He was sacked four times.If Rivera decides to sit Newton, Taylor Heinicke would get his first start.When asked what good it does to play an injured Newton with little to gain, Rivera said Tuesday Tony Pollard Jersey , “in all intents and purposes, we play to win.” RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The vast majority of what the Seattle Seahawks needed to do in churning through its roster and clearing out a handful of players with big contracts later in their careers took place last offseason.The moves helped accelerate what coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider were hoping to do in “refreshing” Seattle’s roster and set up the franchise for having salary cap flexibility in the future.But the difficult decisions didn’t end with the departures of Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman and choosing not to extend safety Earl Thomas. After completing an unexpected season of 10 wins and a playoff berth, the Seahawks still have a few significant free agent decisions to make heading into the offseason.And the two most important would appear to be on the defensive side with linebacker K.J. Wright coming off an injured-filled season and pass rusher Frank Clark looking to cash in on the best season of his young career.“This time of year, we always cite that it’s a really difficult time,” Carroll said. “There’s a lot of stuff that has to take place, there’s a lot of business. John (Schneider) has a master plan of carrying this thing out. He’s got a schedule and calendar of all kinds of stuff that he’s working. Already, we’re well into it. There’s a strategy and a plan to carry this out and our guys know. We’ve communicated with everybody.”Seattle has 14 unrestricted free agents heading into offseason, with Clark and Wright headlining the list because of their specific situations. Thomas is also an unrestricted free agent Noah Fant Jersey , but after a contentious holdout last offseason and a season-ending leg injury suffered in Week 4, the likelihood of Thomas continuing his career with Seattle appears slim at best.Clark and Wright both played this past season in the final year of their contracts, choosing to take the risk of not having contract certainty going into 2019. The results touched both ends of the spectrum of possibilities and leaves Seattle with intriguing decisions to make.Clark proved his worth as an elite pass rusher with a career-high 14 sacks in his first season playing without Bennett and fellow veteran Cliff Avril around. It was the most sacks by any Seattle player since 2007 and put Clark in line for a massive payday should he hit the open market.But that possibility may drive Seattle to use its franchise tag for the first time since 2010 when it was used on kicker Olindo Mare. While Carroll and others have made it clear they want Clark as part of the future, it may be easier for Seattle to pay Clark around $18 million for 2019 and try to work out something long term in the interim.While Clark seemed to prove his future worth, this season only raised questions about whether Wright should be part of Seattle’s future. It wasn’t because of his play as when he was on the field, Wright continued to show his value to Seattle’s defense, highlighted by his juggling end zone interception against Dallas in the playoff loss. But Wright will turn 30 in July and had knee issues derail most of his 2018 season.“I’m pretty sure he’s going to be telling me everything that is going on,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said of Wright. “I’ll pay attention to it. He’s my brother and I hope everything works out, but I understand it’s a business.”Aside from Wright and Clark, Seattle must make decisions on two key offensive linemen with guards J.R. Sweezy and D.J. Fluker having played 2018 on one-year deals and helped the Seahawks have the best run game in the NFL.Other key unrestricted free agents who played important roles in 2018 include cornerback Justin Coleman http://www.broncosauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dalton-risner-jersey , running back Mike Davis, kicker Sebastian Janikowski and linebacker Mychal Kendricks.And hanging over all of Seattle’s decisions are how any of them will play into potential contract extensions for quarterback Russell Wilson and Wagner, who both have deals that expire after the 2019 season.“Russ and I met and we talked about the future. We are talking about where we are going and what we want to get done. And, you know, that’s very much in our plans,” Carroll said.