New England Patriots: Cam Newton rumors won’t go away

Rumors of Cam Newton to the New England Patriots are constantly appearing in the media. Will they ever go away?

A while back I wrote that I thought Cam Newton was a great option for the New England Patriots after the departure of Tom Brady. I still do and others are thinking he just might.

Newton to New England has the best odds according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

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I hope it’s not just speculation. Newton is a proven NFL star. So what’s wrong with replacing one MVP with another in the most important position on the football field? That’s a rhetorical question.

Why should it be a problem if the dollars are right? It shouldn’t be. The Patriots are gambling their whole season on an untested quarterback who’s never started an NFL game.

Now Jarrett Stidham might be the next Brady and I hope he is, but realistically, is that going to happen? Not likely.

So why not bring in a proven superstar (when he’s healthy) at least to compete with the de facto rookie and the journeyman Brian Hoyer?

When is it possible to bring in a former MVP at quarterback, on a reduced contract (we’d suspect) no less, on a one-year “show-me” deal? It seldom happens. Well, it really never happens. It’s a “too good to be true” scenario.

Especially when you have a need for just that positional player. This is a golden opportunity for New England to step up in the aftermath of the Brady-leaving fiasco and make a real statement.

I think and have written that they botched that whole mess. At least they can provide some hope to the fans for a real competition at quarterback and let the best guy start.

I’ve said before, if Stidham beats out Newton for the job, so be it. Great.

But why not initiate a real competition? This situation doesn’t cry out for an, “I’m smarter than everyone else in the NFL” solution to losing the best quarterback in league history whom you’ve just kicked to the curb.

Cam Newton to New England just makes so darn much sense

Tim Hasselbeck, ESPN commentator and former NFL quarterback himself thinks that Newton and the Patriots should be interested in one another.

Of course, they should. Newton in 2018, before his injury-filled 2019, completed 67.9% of his passes with 24 touchdowns. 67.9% isn’t bad at all.

Ok, he did have 13 interceptions, as well. But hopefully, that situation would be rectified by some solid coaching in New England. Ball protection is a mantra for the Patriots and a former league MVP will be able to get the point.

Also, Newton as an RPO quarterback has always been able to run the ball, and he’s a threat to run on any play. His career rushing average is 5.1 yards-per-carry. Not too shabby at all. This adds a new dimension to the New England offense which desperately needs it.

New England’s running game is mediocre, at best, and may get worse if Sony Michel’s foot injury remains an issue. They did little to rectify the situation in the offseason. Newton would at least present an RPO threat and help offset the lack of a real threat in the current offensive backfield.

We continue to see observers of NFL football looking at the Patriots situation and wondering why New England has not been aggressive in seeking to add this former NFL MVP to their squad. On the surface, it makes little sense that they haven’t.

However, New England’s cap situation does present a problem. What would Newton require even for a one-year contract? New England is in cap jail.

They were ostensibly forced to restructure safety Patrick Chung‘s contract to even allow them to sign their second-round draft pick, Kyle Dugger.  That’s a cap problem. So it is possible that New England just doesn’t have the cap room to sign Newton to even a reasonable contract.

Well, maybe yes, and maybe no. There are always means of manipulating a cap situation to make things work. You extend or restructure people with high cap hits. Usually in the NFL, “where there’s a will, there’s a way”.  Why can’t that be the case here?

To sum up, New England should create a real competitive situation in the most important position on the team in 2020. They haven’t had to do that in about 20 years so it shouldn’t be that much of a burden. Sign Newton.

Otherwise, they hitch their sled to a quarterback who has thrown a mere 4 passes in his NFL career. That’s a big risk. One I wouldn’t want to take that on without real competition. We’ll see how it works out. No matter what eventuates, 2020 is going to be a really interesting season.