9. The Patriots have put themselves in a can’t-lose situation
We’ve been through the financials: Newton is criminally underpaid. The Patriots don’t have to worry about losing guaranteed money if the signing doesn’t work out, because they basically didn’t give him any guaranteed money. But this is likely to work out, because Newton is intensely motivated and talented. At best, the Patriots can use Newton to propel themselves to a Super Bowl before signing a long-term extension to keep him around. At worst, they’ll cut him in training camp or place him on injured reserve, losing no more than $1 million.