“I think that kind of started with the Cam Newton situation when we brought in Cam Newton because everyone was like, ‘What the f**k is this? Why Cam Newton?’ Bill thought that he could make it work. It didn’t really work.”
I agree with most of what Damien Harris says in the interview; specifically in regards to the transition of OC from Josh McDaniels to Matt Patricia/Joe Judge.
His negative assessment on signing Cam Newton is not grounded in the reality of the situation at the time, though.
But the reality is that the Patriots - after years and years of having competent backup quarterbacks - found themselves flatfooted when Tom Brady departed. There was no Matt Cassel or Jacoby Brisset or Jimmy Garoppolo available behind the box that said "In Case of Fire, Break Glass". Literally the only options at QB were a second year QB who had been on the field for a total of 15 garbage time snaps, or a 35 year old journeyman who only had two seasons as a starter, both happening due to incompetence of others rather than his own abilities.
Newton fell into the Patriots lap once he was physically cleared to be able to play after recovering from shoulder surgery plus a lisfranc fracture in his foot. It's easy to pooh-pooh the decision to go with Newton now - thanks to the benefit of hindsight regarding his 2020 performance - but at the time the prospect of going the entire season with Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer at QB looked much, much worse.
The proper question wasn't really whether or not Belichick could make Cam Newton at QB work. The correct question was whether the team would be better off with Newton as the starter (and Stidham/Hoyer still available as backups), or to just wing it with Stidham and Hoyer for 16 games. The only valid reason for the latter would be if the plan was to imitate Indy's 'Suck for Luck' campaign, tank the season and go for as early a draft pick in 2021 as possible. The player with 270 career touchdown gave the Patriots the best chance to win.
