One week after appearing to welcome the idea of rehabilitation leading to another season with the Carolina Panthers, quarterback Cam Newton's plans may have changed according to NFL Network league insider Ian Rapoport.

Newton posted on Instagram a promise to fans that he would "work my tail off" to come back "faster and stronger" in 2020 after the franchise placed him on injured reserve, and now, the former league MVP at full strength could be starring under center somewhere else.

“The likely scenario is Cam Newton is playing for a different team next offseason and here’s why — he’s due $19 million in salary and none of it is guaranteed,” Rapoport said on Monday. “He is a franchise quarterback who is intent on being healthy for March. That means he’s very tradeable, similar to Joe Flacco, a place by the way like Chicago if they’re in the market for a quarterback. From my understanding, Cam Newton would in fact welcome that if it all worked out.

“Remember I told you a couple weeks ago the plan was not to have surgery and try to rest and get back on the field this year? Now that he’s on injury reserve, that has changed. He is considering surgery to repair the torn ligaments in foot. That would take 8 to 10 weeks recovery, meaning he would be healthy in time to get released or for Carolina to trade him.”

Per @RapSheet, Chicago is a place Cam Newton would consider “if it all worked out”. Check out the full video here????????????????

pic.twitter.com/9fkW43vzi5 — Usayd (Simba) Koshul (@usaydkoshul) November 10, 2019

There are reasons to believe Newton won't be back in Charlotte for the 2020 season. With one-year left on his contract, the Panthers would save considerable money on next year's salary cap by releasing or trading Newton in order to get out of the year five-year, $103.8 million extension the former Auburn star signed in 2015.

Injury concerns in recent years and a noticeable drop in production has to raise concerns within a front office that could be building around the youth movement on offense, led by NFL MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey and quarterback Kyle Allen, who has played well in Newton's absence this season. As ESPN's David Newton notes, McCaffrey has become the face of the franchise so to speak, replacing Newton as Carolina's most popular player.

Newton suffered a Lisfranc injury in Week 3 of the preseason, and had tried to play through his injury in the Panthers' first two games before being sidelined following Week 2. Last week, Newton had traveled to Green Bay, Wisconsin to visit foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson after his foot had been slow to heal.

Although Newton could theoretically be activated should the Panthers make the playoffs, last week's move to IR will effectively end his 2019 season after just two games played. Allen takes over as the Panthers' full-time starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, with Will Grier, a rookie, as his backup.

"For the past seven weeks, Cam has diligently followed a program of rest and rehab and still is experiencing pain in his foot," Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said in a statement after placing his quarterback on IR. "He saw two foot specialists last week who agreed that he should continue that path prescribed by the team’s medical staff, and that it likely will take significant time for the injury to fully heal."