CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cam Newton doesn’t know whether the rapper Diddy, aka Sean Combs, is serious about purchasing the Carolina Panthers.

But if the entertainer also known as “Puff Daddy” were to purchase the organization owner Jerry Richardson plans to put up for sale after the season, and if he lives up to his promise to sign Colin Kaepernick to compete for the starting job, Newton is ready for the challenge.

“I’m cool with it,” Newton said on Wednesday of competing with Kaepernick, who has not been signed by another NFL team since the end of the 2016 season in which his protest during the national anthem became national news. “They say two things happen in competition, either you get better or you get worse. I’m all for it, whatever.

“As far as a person that I’ve always looked up to, Puff Daddy, Diddy, whatever you want to call him, for that to even being mentioned, that’s cool in itself.”

Newton, who has been the starter since he arrived at Carolina as the top pick of the 2011 draft, isn’t thrilled Richardson plans to sell the team.

He left a meeting on Sunday night, when Richardson informed team captains of his decision to sell amid allegations of sexual harassment and the use of a racial slur to a former scout, “disgruntled.”

It was shortly after that meeting that Diddy wrote on Twitter that he was interested in buying the team. That was followed by Twitter interest from Kaepernick and two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, a native of Charlotte, to join that effort.

In case you missed it, Diddy came out with a video in which he said: “OK, y’all. This is just in, breaking news. The North Carolina Panthers … are up for sale. I believe it’s time to turn the franchise over to new ownership. I need to send a message out to everybody in the beautiful state of North Carolina. I will be the best NFL owner that you can imagine.

“I will immediately address the Colin Kaepernick situation and put him in the running for next year’s starting quarterback. It’s just competition, baby. Just competition.”

Diddy also promised to have the best halftime show, best selection of stadium music and said “we will win Super Bowl after Super Bowl.”

Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP, said like a lot of people he was amused by Diddy’s interest in a team that is valued at $2.3 billion.

“Obviously he’s a person that has a lot of influence in the culture,” Newton said as he prepared for Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay in which the Panthers (10-4) can clinch a playoff spot with a win. “It’s cool. I didn’t know what to expect. I still don’t know what to expect. I kind of feel like a lot of people, you don’t know whether – is he serious? Is he not serious? How do you even sell something of this magnitude?

“I’m just going to stay in my lane, worry about throwing touchdowns on Sunday and let the rest handle itself.”