NFL
New England Patriots QB Cam Newton’s Future Outlook
Panthers legend Cam Newton is entering 2020 with a major chip on his shoulder and will now team up with Bill Belichick as he looks to regain his MVP form
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The New England Patriots have added some offensive firepower by signing a thrilling threat in Cam Newton to take control of the offense. With Newton under center and some developing pieces at numerous skill positions, the Patriots are constructed for immediate success once again. The X-factor to New England’s 2020 season will be the health and mobility of Cam Newton. If Newton can find ways to execute Belichick’s system while also taking it a step further by hurting opposing teams with his legs, the Pats will be right back to running the AFC.
Cam Newton has come a long way since originally entering the national spotlight for stealing laptops while at the University of Florida. The chip on his shoulder first came to the surface after that incident which led to him winning a National Championship with Blinn Junior College before enrolling into Auburn ready for real redemption. Newton would soon emerge as one of the best College QB’s ever, winning the FBS National Championship and Heisman Trophy award in the 2010 season.
The polarizing Auburn QB was a can’t-miss prospect and drafted with the first overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. To this point in his career, Newton has thrown for 29,041 yards (completing 59.6% of his passes) with 182 touchdowns and 108 interceptions. Newton has become one of the best mobile quarterbacks in NFL history, compiling 4,806 rushing yards and 58 rushing touchdowns (NFL QB record).
Cam Newton doesn’t just bring size, confidence, and big play abilities to Gillette Stadium, but he has forced success out of underwhelming situations and has the championship QB experience the Patriots need. Newton led the Panthers to a 15-1 record and took them to the Super Bowl with his best WRs being Ted Ginn, a rookie Devin Funchess, Philly Brown, and Jericho Cotchery. Not one of those WRs were able to eclipse over 750 yards and CAR’s leading rusher that season Johnathan Stewart couldn’t get over the 1,000 yard mark either. Outside of TE Greg Olsen putting up 1,100 yards and seven Touchdowns, the Panthers were literally the Cam Newton Show.
Newton would go on to lead CAR to a 71-59-1 record, NFC Championship, Super Bowl Appearance, and much more. His Carolina career ended on eight-game losing streak as he faced some recent adversity battling through injuries that could derail his career. After missing 14 games in 2019 with a foot injury, Newton was released by the Panthers (saving $15M in cap space) and struggled mightily to gain traction as a free agent this offseason. However, the wait has come to a glorious ending for those involved and could inspire regret for all those who just watched from the sidelines.
While Cam Newton deserves to be a starter in this league, it made sense for teams not to want to bring him in as the backup due to his competitive nature and the potential shift in the locker room that adding an alpha personality like his could cause. In this deal, Newton is being paid like a backup, but is guaranteed less money than Jeff Driskel, Colt McCoy, and A.J. McCarron. Even if he reaches all $7M of his incentives, that’s still less than backups Marcus Mariota ($9.1M), Mitchell Trubisky ($9.3M), and Jacoby Brissett ($21.4M) will all collect in 2020.
Newton has spent most of the offseason trying to remain patient and could have waited well into the regular season for an established QB to get hurt or benched. Although the deal isn’t worthy of the former MVP’s potential production, Newton said himself that this isn’t about money, it’s about respect. He has everything he wants presented to him in New England. The Patriots not only give Newton the opportunity to land a starting job, but also provide him with one of the few franchises that’s instantly ready to compete for the Lombardi trophy.
With the Browns reportedly being the only other team in contact for his services, Newton had to seize the opportunity to work with Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels. Some believe Belichick has a lot to prove this season as he faces the challenge of replacing the GOAT Tom Brady, and it almost looked like Jarrett Stidham was the guy to fill those legendary shoes. The sets and formations Belichick and Josh McDaniels can now add to the playbook this season is scary as this team shifts to a more dynamic offense with Newton under center.
This move doesn’t come without its major questions though: What happens if Cam gets hurt again? If he can’t run like he used to, then how valuable can he really be? Is Bill Belichick going to try to fit Newton into the same system Brady thrived in for years, or will he add more RPOs, read-options, and designed QB runs?
The adjustment for Newton could be difficult as he transitions into a more strict environment and different offensive system, but he’s more than ready to reap the rewards of the Championship culture in Foxborough. If Newton somehow can’t mesh well into the “Patriot Way”, he can easily be cut for a small fee.
When it all comes down to it, Newton is well worth the risk, especially if he’s fully healthy again given his ability to put up MVP-caliber production. But it’s not Cam’s abilities that are in question, it’s his durability. After all, the best ability is availability. At the end of the day, Cam Newton’s one-year deal has the potential to be the best return on investment amongst any QB in the NFL in 2020. It’s also no coincidence it was announced about 15 minutes before news broke about their punishment for filming the Bengals.
FUTURE OUTLOOK: B+ (Impact player who could be Pro Bowl caliber if fully healthy)
Despite losing franchise Quarterback Tom Brady, the New England Patriots elected not to take a QB in the 2020 NFL Draft, further backing the franchise’s belief in the capabilities of 2019 4th Rd pick Jarrett Stidham and veteran Brian Hoyer. Jarrett Stidham was selected out of Auburn eight years after Newton won a National Championship there. Stidham was the seventh QB selected and is the highest QB draft selection by the Patriots since they drafted Jacoby Brissett in 2016.
Many thought that Belichick and the Patriots were going to make Stidham the starting QB this season. Did Bill Belichick really have a plan of going into the season with the young Stidham starting at QB or did he have his sights set on Newton the whole time? It’s hard to imagine that Stidham is ready for the immense pressure that comes with replacing a living legend like Tom Brady, especially in his first full season as a starter. The only tape that can be evaluated on Stidham is from college and the preseason, and although he more than held his own, he doesn’t seem to have the natural talent to put it all together immediately. To be fair, everyone in the NFL thought the same thing when it was Brady’s turn to replace Drew Bledsoe.
Brian Hoyer is back in a familiar situation as he enters his fourth tenure with the New England Patriots (2009-11, 2017, 2018). After starting his career with the same organization in 2009, Hoyer has played for six teams in eight seasons but has became one of the most respected backup QBs in the NFL. Hoyer started 36 games from 2013-17 and even led a terrible Cleveland Browns team to a 7-6 record back in 2014, but has only started one game in the last two seasons. With Hoyer turning 35 during the 2020 season, his value is likely limited to just mentoring Stidham at this point, so his roster spot could now be up in the air with Cam Newton joining the fold.
Belichick will have the most talented backfield he’s ever had to work with in his offense as he has a 6’5, 250-lb physical specimen with a rocket arm in Newton alongside former 1st Rd pick Sony Michel, the versatile James White, 2019 3rd round pick Damien Harris, and the bruising scat back Rex Burkhead. Newton has a good mix of veteran WR’s in Julian Edelman and Mohamed Sanu, but also has young receivers on the rise in N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Myers, and Marqise Lee. Edelman will likely receive the majority of targets, and Sanu could emerge as a threat in 2020 as well. Sanu struggled to adjust from Atlanta’s high volume offense to New England’s slower paced system while dealing with an ankle injury, but they’re expecting an uptick in production this season as he’s already getting his work in with the former MVP.
With Newton on the roster, the Patriots have a great chance of winning the AFC East for the 12th consecutive year and remaining a contender to reach the Super Bowl, but the long-term solution might not be on the roster. An interesting aspect of this deal is that Bill Belichick could be using Newton as a guinea pig of running a dual-threat offensive system that provides Belichick with inside intel on how to orchestrate an offense around a QB with wheels like many of the current College QB’s have. Best-case scenario: Newton leads the Patriots back to the Super Bowl and regains his Superman status. Worst case: Belichick learns what it takes to scheme for a mobile QB before selecting his next franchise signal-caller in an upcoming draft (if Stidham can’t develop into a starter himself).
PATRIOTS QB OUTLOOK: B (potential for a decade-long franchise QB, but also just as likely that no franchise QB is on the roster)
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