Source: Pats have NOT ruled out bringing Cam back in 2021

[Whitt25]

Not going to deny his supporting cast is awful. But what is cam newtons ceiling with quality wide receivers and tight ends?

Guy had 8 td passes total. You think he's gonna throw 27 tds? A net increase of 20? Brady only increased his passing tds by 15 and that's with the best supporting cast in the NFL.

Since people seem to forget he also rushes for TDs, I can see 20 passing TDs. He doesn't have to throw 25-35 TDs if he's rushing 10-12 TDs a season.

 

[PScottman]

I'm going to go a step further...I don't understand fans attitude toward middle and lower tier players. Every team requires them. You need special teams guys that are willing to throw their bodies into harms way every game. Guys that can long snap consistently. Guys that step in and fill a gap for three games while another player is "questionable - shoulder".

I completely get that some are overpaid. Others are overdrafted. Ironically, others are underpaid and under-drafted. Yet all of that mix is still a requirement to field an entire team each and every season. You cant have 22 All-Pros in a salary cap league, a league where draft position means literally nothing (Ryan Leaf is a generational talent! So is Jeff George! So is Rick Mirer - he's the next Joe Montana!), and where the real world and all its complex problems impact football just as much as the rest of us (Player A is on Xanax? Whoudda thunk it?).

The Patriots must compete for the majority of their roster with all the other teams every off-season. Only a FRACTION is bequeathed to them in the form of the draft and even there other teams influence your picks by theirs.

In what world should they treat all their lower tier players like garbage? They should absolutely be saying "we'd love them back!" "They were great ___________ and in doing ______________." even locker rom cancers (Caveat emptor) they have no intention of re-signing.

Don't do the other GMs jobs for them. Don't make players think that 1 Patriot Place doesn't value their players - no matter where they fall on the depth chart. Sometime "a good place to work and be valued" can sell a player if all the other factors are equal. AND ITS FREE! Doesn't cost the Patriots a thing.

 

[JackBauer]

Why would you disagree on Harris? This is the first season he's gotten a chance to really do anything in the regular season. That's why I said he's unproven. Come on, bruh. And Michel was meant to be a RB1, not a RB2. That's why he's been a disappointment.

Meyers only put up yards 'cause Cam barely had anyone else to throw to. He doesn't reach 700 if Edelman and Burkhead don't get injured. He's a WR4, barely a WR3.

And I'm going to hold on to my opinion that Cam only looks like the worst starting QB in the league because his supporting cast is awful. Bottom-of-the barrel-scraping-for-crumbs talent at WR and TE.

So he's unproven because this was the first season in which he had an opportunity to prove himself. That doesn't make sense. Based on his performance this year Harris will almost certainly be RB1 moving forward. Michel being a disappointment is immaterial since I never claimed otherwise, only that Harris/Michel have the potential to be a formidable duo at RB (and by potential I mean if they can both stay on the field).

I simply disagree with your assessment of Meyers, and I'll leave it at that. Having a better supporting cast would have helped—perhaps we'd have had bottom-third QB play instead of worst in the league.

 

[Patjew]

I've never seen worse pocket awareness in my life. Not to mention how many balls he had tipped at the line.

 

[sb1]

If they can throw more than 8 TD's they'll be a substantial upgrade over Cam.

Cam is winning MVP I can just feel it!
-Newton England

 

[203Pat]

I've never seen worse pocket awareness in my life. Not to mention how many balls he had tipped at the line.

I say this every week in the GDT. It is mind numbing to watch him get killed in the pocket with no clue the rush is coming.

 

[sb1]

I've never seen worse pocket awareness in my life. Not to mention how many balls he had tipped at the line.

I don't know... I think Drew would have given him some tough competition in the category of worst pocket awareness.

 

[203Pat]

I don't know... I think Drew would have given him some tough competition in the category of worst pocket awareness.

Drew would at least see if coming and would be able to turtle up. Cam never seems to see it coming. Even free rushers from his non-blind side he just stands there and gets blown up.

 

[Whitt25]

So he's unproven because this was the first season in which he had an opportunity to prove himself. That doesn't make sense. Based on his performance this year Harris will almost certainly be RB1 moving forward. Michel being a disappointment is immaterial since I never claimed otherwise, only that Harris/Michel have the potential to be a formidable duo at RB (and by potential I mean if they can both stay on the field).

I simply disagree with your assessment of Meyers, and I'll leave it at that.

Yes, that's literally what unproven is. You need to be doing the same thing on a consistent basis to be proven. One season is not enough. Did you think Carson Wentz was a great QB after only watching his first season? What about Baker Mayfield, Marcus Mariota, Trubisky? Wait a few seasons to see what a player does. Harris could end up either improving next season or declining.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

And yet several players have said NE's system is complicated as hell compared to other teams. He also had to learn the system without testing plays in any pre-season game. And he had to miss one game when he caught covid.

Even with all you have said, we should have seen improvement week after week instead we saw regression each week. That’s not the system is complicated, it’s Cam can’t play.

McDaniels didn’t change the system. Why would you change it and ask half your team to relearn a new one? I honestly think McDaniels dumb it down at the maximum. It’s nowhere near Brady complexity. Most plays it’s one or two read maximum. A lot of screen which requires no process since you know in advance where the ball will go. I am not even sure they used a lot of option routes.

 

[JackBauer]

Yes, that's literally what unproven is. You need to be doing the same thing on a consistent basis to be proven. One season is not enough. Did you think Carson Wentz was a great QB after only watching his first season? What about Baker Mayfield, Marcus Mariota, Trubisky? Wait a few seasons to see what a player does. Harris could end up either improving next season or declining.

Why are you asking about QBs? Why don't you list first-year RBs who put up 700+ yards, 5+ TDs and reattempt?

 

[PatriotSpy]

I love the hyperbole level people take things to that are never said. If you're leaving your job, were a decent employee, but also realize that you have to put that position on your resume - do you want the previous employer to say "he sucks" if contacted or something more along the lines of "he was a good worker for us"? In Cam's case - he was a good leader, put in the extra time, he just couldn't produce on the field.

How much would other prospective employees want to work someplace where they're blackballed on the way out the door either?

Cam is going to compete for backup jobs next year - he may not get hired, but he'll compete for them. Burning him out the door does nothing but hurt the Patriots franchise.

if i was terrible at my job i'm not expecting anybody to cover for my total ineptitude. Cam was not decent by any measure. HE WAS TERRIBLE!

 

[Whitt25]

Why are you asking about QBs? Why don't you list first-year RBs who put up 700+ yards, 5+ TDs and reattempt?

QBs are still players. I was just naming names off the top my head who looked great early on and now suck. My point was one season doesn't determine a player being proven. I'm sure you get the idea? Or do you really need me to go digging for RBs who looked decent-ish for one season but declined afterwards?

 

[PatriotSpy]

What are the differences between algebra, geometry, and trigonometry? Why is it some minds can grasp one study but not another? The Pats system is in a different language than what players like Cam can read. He had a hard time just reading the language let alone having it become second nature. This is not a fault or Cam or a criticism that he cannot learn the system. Yet again, maybe he can't. He really did try. If your boss gave you five weeks to learn Mandarin, you would now get how Cam feels. Your comparison is silly. There are plenty vets who come to NE and say they just cannot get they system.

Bouncing passes at the feet of wide open receivers has nothing to do with the system. Taking sacks after sacks instead of throwing the ball away has nothing to do with the system.

 

[PatriotSpy]

cam was 4th to last in qbr in the entire NFL. He had an AWFUL year. If Bill was a moron (which he is not) he would bring cam back.

I can't think of any team that would want cam as a starter for their team. The league has too many good young quarterbacks deserving of starting and there's many more on the way. This is a what have you done for me lately league and if you don't perform, there's guys waiting to replace you. I just cannot believe anybody on here would want Cam back in ANY capacity considering the kind of year he had. It's amazing to me.

 

[JackBauer]

QBs are still players. I was just naming names off the top my head who looked great early on and now suck. My point was one season doesn't determine a player being proven. I'm sure you get the idea? Or do you really need me to go digging for RBs who looked decent-ish for one season but declined afterwards?

This has devolved into an argument about semantics. What I originally wrote was that the team should be mostly set next year with Harris/Michel as their RB1/RB2. You responded that Harris is unproven. Well, I think he proved enough this year to slot as the presumptive RB1 next season. Of course he could end up regressing but as of right now that’s where things stand in my view.

 

[nORRis8]

This whole season felt like it was to hilite Cam Newton.
Tom recieved hardly any recognition when the Pats won. Belichick held Newton in his arms after games and burped him.
Running the ball when he really shouldn't have was so friggin' irritating.
The game vs Seattle....everyone knew it was going to be a QB sneak and Seattle was prepared.
Yes he ran for X amount of TD's. Its nice to have a scrambling Qb. But hes the guy on the field that throws the ball. His accuracy of anything above an 10 yard pass is scary.He cannot read complex defences and looks flat-footed in the pocket/confused.
Brady would check his recievers 3 times if need be. Newton checks the guy who the call is for and if hes covered he starts to crap his pants and starts flailing his arms around, wondering if he should scramble or not.

 

[Ring 6]

Since people seem to forget he also rushes for TDs, I can see 20 passing TDs. He doesn't have to throw 25-35 TDs if he's rushing 10-12 TDs a season.

His rushing tds are not additive. They would be scored by RBs.

But please after the disaster he was on the field explain why you would choose him again, keeping in mind he was only chosen the first time because he was willing to play for the minimum.
What exactly did you see from him that makes you think the patriots can compete for a championship with him at qb?
What I saw was a guy who shouldn’t be in top 50 choices.

 

[nORRis8]

His rushing tds are not additive. They would be scored by RBs.

But please after the disaster he was on the field explain why you would choose him again, keeping in mind he was only chosen the first time because he was willing to play for the minimum.
What exactly did you see from him that makes you think the patriots can compete for a championship with him at qb?
What I saw was a guy who shouldn’t be in top 50 choices.

Precisely. His running cost us wins that some like to overlook. Seahawks and Bills, then in the game vs Denver he was driving downfield and could not complete a 4th down pass to an open reciever.
I would have rathered Uncle Rico as our starting Qb than Fig Newton.

 

[luuked]

This whole season felt like it was to hilite Cam Newton.
Tom recieved hardly any recognition when the Pats won. Belichick held Newton in his arms after games and burped him.
Running the ball when he really shouldn't have was so friggin' irritating.
The game vs Seattle....everyone knew it was going to be a QB sneak and Seattle was prepared.
Yes he ran for X amount of TD's. Its nice to have a scrambling Qb. But hes the guy on the field that throws the ball. His accuracy of anything above an 10 yard pass is scary.He cannot read complex defences and looks flat-footed in the pocket/confused.
Brady would check his recievers 3 times if need be. Newton checks the guy who the call is for and if hes covered he starts to crap his pants and starts flailing his arms around, wondering if he should scramble or not.

And yet the outcome would be the same -- a dysfunctional offense -- except we would have had to pay 5x more to keep an unhappy Brady around and delay the rebuild. They made the right choice moving on and took a low risk flyer on a former MVP on an absurdly cheap deal.

Not much to be upset about given where we started last offseason (half of the front 7 leaving, 0 cap space to improve any unit to the point that Harmon had to be moved) or given how we lost some starters and depth players who opted out right before camp.

Last year we were looking at a teardown now we are sitting nicely with 60M in cap space and a mid teens picks and are looking to build.