Hot off the press—Cam Newton is now a New England Patriot on a “bare minimum” deal. This doesn’t shock many people as he is the best quarterback on the market for a team whose current starting signal caller is Jarrett Stidham.
Analysis:
The worst case scenario with this signing is that Cam gets injured or is no longer a capable starter. With this, Stidham would have the privilege of learning from a former league MVP. Newton would then leave the following offseason with what is likely a very small bag of money.
On the other hand, Cam could return to his MVP form after nearly a full year of rehab and push the Patriots to their 4th Super Bowl in the last five years.
However, as we know, Belichick plays chess–not checkers.
Newton is an experienced quarterback who has had great success in his nine year NFL career. With Stidham having a full year in the building and having the opportunity to share a film room with Tom Brady, I expect him to be a much better player than he was coming out of Auburn.
If Newton proves he isn’t an NFL starting caliber quarterback anymore, Stidham will once again have the honor of competing in a room with another league MVP. Looking forward, if the QB room fails this season, I wouldn’t count out drafting a quarterback from the star studded 2021 class out of the realm of possibilities.
The signing of Newton makes the Patriots a fun team for the 2020 season, and it will be interesting to see which former Auburn Tiger can win the job.
Photo: USA Today
