New England Patriots: Cam Newton is the blueprint for success

Why the New England Patriots blueprint for success in 2020 starts with a man by the name of Cam Newton.

The New England Patriots have ostensibly placed their whole 2020 season squarely on the shoulders of their inexperienced 2nd-year quarterback, Jarrett Stidham. It’s a poor decision.

After 20 years of unprecedented success riding on the coattails of the greatest ever quarterback, the Patriots evidently think that they will strike gold twice by inserting a 4th round pick into the starting lineup. That strategy is likely to leave them looking up at the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.

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A better strategy is to sign a proven NFL quarterback to a “show-me” contract and see what he can do to keep the train rolling. That’s assuming that the Patriots want to keep the train rolling.

By their free agency, draft, and undrafted free agency efforts, I’m not so sure that they do.

The Patriots passed on Jameis Winston who signed with New Orleans for whatever reason to play behind hall of famer Drew Brees. He could have been signed by the New England Patriots to start most likely.

Now, the best option is to sign a former NFL MVP, Cam Newton who would be a terrific solution to their quarterback dilemma. Are they also going to pass on Cam? Maybe so and that would be another bad decision.

Newton is a bonified NFL star when healthy. That’s a big “if” understandably.

But I’d rather go into a season with a great quarterback who has had solid success in the NFL, an RPO quarterback who could add a new and dynamic dimension to your offense, than an essentially untested rookie quarterback who’s thrown 4 passes in his NFL career.

Cam Newton is the best option for the New England Patriots in 2020, bar none.

I’m not buying all the hype on Stidham. He has to show me.

But in Newton, they get an experienced young veteran who has massive skills and who is capable of taking this team, as poorly constructed as it is on offense, to the top of the AFC East.

Now, I’m not saying that he’ll have the necessary pieces on offense to manage a 12-4 season. Hardly. The Patriots, in my opinion, have botched free agency on offense, have botched the draft on offense, and have botched undrafted free agency for the most part on offense.

But, let’s not forget J.J. Taylor from Arizona the undrafted free agent running back. He can play and may surprise.

But this team did nothing in the draft to bolster their wide receiver corps. Nothing. They drafted two tight ends who were reaches in the third round when they could have done better earlier and maybe later. Aside from the aforementioned Taylor did nothing to enhance a very mediocre running back room.

Julian Edelman is a star but after Julian in the wideout corps, there is little. I’m not sold on any of them.

So even Newton would have his work cut out for him with this group. But the offensive line is sound if not excellent, and adding a future star in Michael Onwenu was a masterstroke by New England in the 6th round.

Now some pundits are postulating that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels isn’t in favor of bringing Newton to New England. Si.com citing The Athletic says that McDaniels was not enamored with Newton when he interviewed for the Panthers head coaching job.

That may be the case, but it was McDaniels who drafted Tim Tebow in the first round in Denver. That didn’t work out too great for the Broncos, and it probably ultimately cost him that job. Maybe McDaniels isn’t the right guy to make the call on this one.

Newton has plenty on his resume. This includes Offensive Rookie of the Year, league MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, three Pro Bowl nods and a Super Bowl appearance

That’s good enough for me. Sign Cam to a “show me” contract and see what he can do. If he flops, then give Stidham a shot. Or, if Stidham beats him out in pre-season, go with him.

But I’m sorry, dropping the reins of the team on a totally inexperienced quarterback after losing the best ever, just doesn’t sound like a well-thought plan to me.