Most people agree that the signing of Cam Newton made the New England Patriots considerably better since Tom Brady is no longer there.
The two were tabbed as potential matches early in the offseason as the Patriots only had quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer on their roster after moving on from Tom Brady. Newton, on the other hand, is coming off of injuries and being released by the Carolina Panthers.
Lengendary coach and current NFL analyst Jimmy Johnson recently joined “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” to talk about the pairing of Newton and New England.
“I think it’s going to work as long as Cam stays healthy,” Johnson said. “I think he’s going to be very exciting. Josh McDaniels is going to work with Cam and have him do all kinds of things. Of course Josh had Tim Tebow in Denver so he can do some running style type things. Cam right now looks to be healthy. I know Josh had conversations with Norv and Bill (Belichick) has had conversations with Norv Turner who worked with Cam. So I think everyones on the same page. They’re going to throw him out there and see if he can make some plays and I think he’ll make plenty of plays.”
Newton and Brady have very different skill sets and the transition should allow the Patriots to call plays they were unable to use with Brady.
Newton himself echoed these thoughts in a recent roundtable discussion with Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz and Todd Gurley.
“Coach McDaniels, you’re able to call some stuff that you ain’t ever been able to call now,” Newton said. “You’re getting a dog. You’re getting one of these ticked off dogs, too. And I’m looking at the schedule and I’m like ‘Who are we playing? That team passed on me! OK, that team passed on me. They could’ve came and got me.’”