A lot of speculation in recent months has surrounded Cam Newton’s future with the New England Patriots, but none of it has come from Bill Belichick or Newton himself.
Despite having a tough year as a passer, Newton still led the depleted team to a 7-8 record in games he played in, while recording 592 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Many people believe the Patriots will draft a quarterback at pick No. 15 or go out and find a veteran, whether it’s through free agency or a trade. But, why wouldn’t the Patriots take a passionate, skilled quarterback who knows the system and put actual weapons around him, along with giving him the offseason to actually prepare?
It makes complete sense, and could be much more beneficial than reaching for someone who may or may not buy into the system. ESPN’s Mike Reiss joined WEEI’s “Dale & Keefe” on Friday and touched on the topic further.
“We don’t know how all of this is going to unfold, and if you do bring him back, maybe it is a Cam and situation,” Reiss said. “For example, going back to the [Marcus] Mariota possibility, like how would you feel about Mariota and Cam? … I wouldn’t close the door just yet [on Newton returning] until we know what the other dominos are, that are out there and available to them.
“I think the concern is the functional passing game — how much of that was Cam versus how much was around him? You have to admit they didn’t put him in the best position to succeed with what was around him, but part of that was him, too. He said as much himself, right? That’s maybe the tricky part when you are navigating that one.”
Exactly, it’s pretty clear that Newton wasn’t working with much. Reiss also continued to discuss the idea of Mariota joining the Patriots, as he spent last season backing Derek Carr in Las Vegas.
“I like the possibility, or I am warming up to the possibility, of someone like Marcus Mariota,” he said. “The Raiders backup quarterback, which they might not keep because they are in a little bit of a salary cap crunch. They need to improve their defense.
He’s on the books for $10.5 million. I am warming up to the idea of maybe you just take care of that right now. Say hey, ‘what would it take? A fifth-round pick? A sixth-round pick? You might even cut him. Let’s take him and say we can move forward with him and then it still gives us flexibility whether he is the guy or not. At least we have a guy who has 61 career starts and gives us a chance at the functional passing game and maybe he ends up being the answer down the line, but if he isn’t we still have flexibility with all that cap space to go in a different direction.’”
Free agency is a little over a month away and the Patriots have a ton of decisions to make, especially with the signal-caller for 2021.
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