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Today in Patriots History
Pats sign Cam Newton
Pats sign Cam Newton
July 8, 2020:
Patriots sign Cam Newton to a one-year, $1.75 million contract, to compete with Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer as starting quarterback for the Pats' first post-Tom Brady season.
Patriots Sign QB Cam Newton | Patriots.com
Newton, 31, is a veteran of nine NFL seasons with the Carolina Panthers. The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder was selected by Carolina in the first round with the first overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Auburn. He was released by the Panthers on March 24, 2020.
Newton started 124 of the 125 regular-season games he played for the Panthers and completed 2,371 of his 3,980 passes for 29,041 yards with 182 touchdowns and 108 interceptions. His 4,806 rushing yards are third in NFL history among quarterbacks, behind the 6,109 by Mike Vick and the 4,928 by Randall Cunningham and his 58 rushing touchdowns are the most ever by an NFL quarterback. He established the NFL record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single season with 14 in 2011, breaking Patriots Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Grogan's previous NFL record of 12 which he set in 1976. Newton is the only player in NFL history to have at least six seasons with 3,000 or more passing yards and 500 or more rushing yards at any point in his career. Newton and Peyton Manning are the only two players in NFL history to have at least 3,000 passing yards in each of their first eight seasons.
Newton has also started in seven postseason games and has completed 134-of-224 passes for 1,821 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was limited to two games with Carolina in 2019 due to injury.
He was named the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner as a junior and will be the sixth Heisman recipient to suit up for the Patriots in team history, joining RB Joe Bellino (1960 - Navy), QB John Huarte (1964 - Notre Dame), QB Jim Plunkett (1970 - Stanford), QB Doug Flutie (1984 - Boston College) and QB Vinny Testaverde (1986 - Miami). Newton, who was named the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player after leading the Panthers to the NFC Championship and a Super Bowl 50 appearance, is a three-time Pro Bowl player (2011, 2013 and 2015). He was also named the Associated Press Rookie of the Year in 2011.
Cam Newton signing a one-year deal with the Patriots
The Patriots have agreed to a one-year contract with quarterback Cam Newton, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The one-year deal is worth up to $7.5 million with incentives, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to...
www.boston.com
The Patriots had been heading to training camp with Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round draft pick, as the heir apparent to Brady. Stidham appeared in three games last season, completing two passes for 14 yards with one interception.
Patriots signing Cam Newton to 1-year deal
Newton’s deal is reportedly worth up to $7.5 million.
www.bostonherald.com
At the time I was angry at not only how the Patriots had completely botched the transition at QB (Jimmy Garoppolo being traded away for virtually nothing in return), but also simultaneously letting Tom Brady walk away - in this case, with literally nothing in return. To me the signing of Newton was a brilliant move - if for no other reason other than his having light years more potential than the unproven Stidham, or the ancient Hoyer. Signing Cam Newton was a no-brainer in my eyes, given the circumstances at that moment. The article below articulates how I felt at that time - though I was far more cautious in my optimism in comparison to the writer's prognosis.
The Patriots Have Cam Newton. The Rest of the NFL Let It Happen.
New England is replacing Tom Brady with a QB who just five years ago was the most dominant player on the planet. What comes next?
www.theringer.com
The Neverending Dynasty has a smiling new face. The Patriots lost their Hall of Fame quarterback this offseason, but somehow have replaced him with an MVP. New England reached an agreement to sign Cam Newton on Sunday, putting one of the most dynamic players of the last decade on the most dominant team of the past two decades.
It seemed impossible that New England would simply fade into irrelevance after 20 years of Tom Brady. It also seemed impossible that Newton would simply disappear after winning just about every award that a football player could win between his 2010 Heisman Trophy at Auburn and his 2015 NFL MVP with the Carolina Panthers. Now, neither of those things has to happen. With Newton, the Patriots will be heavily favored to win the AFC East for the 12th consecutive season; with the Patriots, Newton will have a chance to prove that he’s still got some Superman left in him.
Newton’s contract is reportedly an “incentive-laden” one-year deal worth up to $7.5 million. That’s a low-risk, high-reward proposition for both parties. You can almost imagine a split-screen telecast with Bill Belichick sitting at home watching game tape of Jarrett Stidham on one side and Newton sitting at home realizing he needs to play somewhere on the other. Both would pick up their phones simultaneously. For all the talk about Stidham’s prospects over the past few months, it seems unlikely that the fourth-round draft pick who has thrown four career NFL passes will challenge Newton in a quarterback competition. Reference the Auburn résumés of both players if you need help. Belichick’s dog could just as easily pick the starter.
Even so, there are plenty of reasons why this pairing might not work. While Newton once seemed so indestructible that the closest comparison for him was a superhero who can only be defeated by a fictional mineral from a faraway galaxy, he has recently started to show signs of wear, presumably from a playing style built around powering through opponents. He suffered season-ending injuries in both 2018 and 2019. In his last eight games in Carolina, the Panthers went 0-8 while Newton threw more interceptions than touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Patriots have never won big without Brady, and their dynastic reputation obscures a roster that may not put Newton in a great position to succeed. The Pats arguably have the worst receiving corps in the league, with 34-year-old Julian Edelman, 30-year-old Mohamed Sanu, and struggling youngster N’Keal Harry topping the depth chart. Something called a “Matt LaCosse” is their top tight end. Sure, Newton was a one-man force at his peak: None of his Auburn teammates went on to succeed in the NFL, and he made the Super Bowl with a team that started Corey “Philly” Brown at receiver. But Newton has logged a lot of miles, and might not be capable of singlehandedly carrying his supporting casts anymore.
But still, THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS ARE SIGNING CAM NEWTON. The Pats and Newton long seemed like they existed in separate football worlds: New England was the dynasty whose super-secret system kept it in contention year after year after year; Newton was the superstar who didn’t need a damn system to get to the Super Bowl. Now, the two are together, Superman playing The Patriot Way. It’s an outcome that would make you quit your Madden franchise.
Newton winding up on the Patriots feels like another instance of Belichick outsmarting the rest of the league, adding to a 20-year file of finding draft steals, turning retreads into rebirths, and taking advantage of surprise loopholes. But this isn’t just about the Patriots. Thirty-one teams had the chance to sign Newton after the Panthers unceremoniously cut him in March, just five years removed from him being the best player in the sport. It’s baffling that until now nobody was even willing to take a flyer on him. It’s not like Cam is ancient—he just turned 31! Russell Wilson is older. Incidentally, 31 is the number of teams that decided they didn’t want him.
Even if Newton hits all his incentives and makes $7.5 million, he’ll still make less than the average annual salaries of some backups. This offseason, the Bears, Saints, and Raiders agreed to pay more to Nick Foles, Taysom Hill, and Marcus Mariota, respectively. Those teams got backup quarterbacks; the Pats got Cam Newton.
The Patriots are gambling that Newton can look like the QB who once was the most dominant player on the planet. Every other NFL team made the riskier gamble by deciding that giving a small contract to a potential superhero wasn’t worth it.
