In a move that will surprise nobody, the Carolina Panthers have locked up Cam Newton as the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, according to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio. Speaking about an hour before the draft kicked off, Paolantonio reported on a meeting between Panthers brass about Newton:
Jerry Richardson, the owner of the team, met with Marty Hurney the general manager and the head coach Ron Rivera and he signed off on the proposal of drafting Cam Newton, who he met with in his home for many, many hours and was very impressed with.
He also reported the team has met extensively with Newton. So there you have it, Atlanta Falcons fans -- it looks to be all but official that the team will have to prepare for Newton at some point soon.
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