By Brandon Simmons
The Cam Newton era in New England has officially ended. Adam Schefter reports that the Patriots cut Newton, after roughly one season with the team. Tuesday’s news came in the wake of an interesting week that saw more headlines than highlights for the former MVP.
Newton and the Patriots came together in 2020. They signed him after he was released by the Carolina Panthers – the team who drafted him number one overall and took them to their 2nd Super Bowl. However, he was signed late into the offseason — a large part of that due to COVID hindering a lot of things. With the preseason scrapped entirely, Newton entered the 2020 season ready to bounce back in his career. Newton led the team to a 2-1 record and things looked to be promising for the year.
However, things would soon take a dip and alter Cam’s season. Before their Week 4 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, Newton tested positive for COVID-19, which got him placed on the reserve/COVID list and forced the game to be postponed from Sunday to the following Monday. When he returned to resume his season, the Patriots went on a 3 game losing streak. They won their next 4 of 5 games before hitting another 3 game losing streak, which made them go 1-3 to end the year and finish 7-9. Newton himself finished his season with 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
This past offseason, things were a little different but not in Newton’s favor. The Patriots re-signed Newton to a 1 year deal, this time in March, right around the beginning of free agency. But when the draft came around, New England selected Alabama QB Mac Jones with the 15th overall pick, which likely prompted many to believe that Cam would not be there long. Fast forward to the preseason, and there is now a QB controversy to be had, as Jones is showing improvements and producing a little more than Newton in each of the 3 preseason games. It probably did not help that Newton missed a big part of the week because of an alleged COVID violation and had a game in which he threw 2 of 5 for 10 yards.
Cam Newton has been a starter in this league for a long time and could find himself another opportunity before long. Right now, the main names people are throwing around are the Houston Texans and Washington Football Team. With the Texans trying to ship out Deshaun Watson – for what feels like an eternity at this point – they don’t really have a solution at QB right now, but they don’t have a rush to go get one, especially if they have a chance to get a franchise QB in next year’s draft when they get a first round pick after missing out the last couple of seasons. WFT could see a reunion between head coach Ron Rivera and Newton, where they both enjoyed some success in Carolina. However, Twitter users have speculated that might not work considering Newton’s COVID vaccination status and Rivera’s stance on the vaccine, who also happen to be a cancer survivor, which might make his immune system a little shaky to begin with. If those destinations do not appeal to Newton, a lot of teams would take him as a backup QB, whether it be as an emergency replacement for a starter or someone to fill a roster spot. Newton will not be on the proverbial sideline for long.
It looks like the Patriots had all the information they needed to make their decision. Their approach with signing Cam last year was probably a win-now method. After losing Tom Brady, you want to bring in someone at least close to that caliber. Unfortunately, with COVID bringing a lot of things to a halt, they were probably limited in their choices and had to go with the most decorated name at the time, that didn’t start with a “T” or a “B”. In addition to that, they were not really putting in the pieces to develop a team to win now. Players were opting out because of COVID last year, and even this year, stars like Stpehon Gilmore were recovering from injuries. Overall, it was a safe move that probably led them to the right move they really wanted: starting over fresh with a new quarterback. Mac Jones has not proven to be the heir apparent to Brady’s throne in New England, but he used this preseason to help him make that first step forward. Sure, he was probably given more time since he was a rookie needing experience, but obviously he did enough within that given time to nudge the starter decision in his favor. Just as one era ends for the Patriots, another quickly begins in under 2 weeks.