Cam Newton

Latest On Patriots, Jimmy Garoppolo

March 14th, 2021 at 10:42am CST by Rory Parks

The financial details of the Patriots’ new deal with Cam Newton make it clear that New England is leaving its options open with respect to the quarterback position, and the Jimmy Garoppolo rumblings continue to persist. In a recent appearance on the PFT PM podcast, Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston said a New England-Garoppolo reunion remains a possibility even after the Newton re-up (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).

Of course, the 49ers would need to make Garoppolo available via trade, and that situation is a little murky. San Francisco GM John Lynch said last month that he had no doubt Garoppolo would be his starting QB in 2021, but just a few days later, a report surfaced indicating that Jimmy G was still on the trade block.

According to Florio, the Niners continue to seek an upgrade, and if they find one, obviously Garoppolo would stand to be dealt. Though he would need to waive his no-trade clause, that probably wouldn’t be a problem if San Francisco brings in, or is planning to bring in, a player that could pose a threat to his starting job.

As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com points out, getting a legitimate quarterback under contract was key for the Patriots with free agency opening this week. Although there are plenty who believe Newton is simply not a viable starter anymore, he is still a beloved figure among players, and the Pats — who have among the most salary cap space in the league — figure to be active players in the market. The club has been connected to some of the top receivers and tight ends available, and those players would probably not even consider Foxborough if Jarrett Stidham was the only passer on the roster. So while the Newton deal doesn’t assure him of anything, it needed to be done.

For his part, Newton expects to take a major step forward in 2021 if given the opportunity. He recently posted a hype video to Instagram promising a return to form next season, and depending on how things shake out in free agency and the draft, he just might get that chance. If nothing else, the fact that the Pats brought him back suggests that the team believes he could look more like his old self with a better complement of weapons surrounding him.

Patriots Re-Sign QB Cam Newton

March 12th, 2021 at 8:16pm CST by Zachary Links

2:17pm: Newton’s contract marks a raise from his 2020 Patriots pact, but incentives comprise much of the deal. The former MVP passer’s accord carries a $5MM base value, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. This includes a $2MM signing bonus and $1.5MM guaranteed. The deal also contains $1.5MM in per-game roster bonuses, per Garafolo, who adds the other $9MM is tied to incentives.

9:45am: The Patriots will re-sign quarterback Cam Newton to a one-year deal, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. The new deal could be “worth close to” $14MM, though the details of the deal are unclear.

Newton’s new contract will not preclude the Patriots from adding another quarterback this offseason, Schefter hears. From the sound of it, Newton’s base value is rather low, making this yet another low-risk/high-reward pact for the Patriots.

Newton joined the Patriots last offseason to replace Tom Brady. Starting in 15 games, Newton threw for 2,657 yards while completing 65.8% of his throws — more accurate than most of his NFL seasons. Unfortunately, he also threw for just eight touchdowns against ten interceptions.

Newton started strong, but the former MVP dovetailed later in the year. His COVID-19 interruption didn’t help matters; nor did injuries to Julian Edelman, David Andrews, and Rex Burkhead. All in all, Newton went 7-8 as a starter and the Patriots finished 7-9.

Still, Bill Belichick reportedly loved coaching Newton. Despite concerns about his arm strength and his long-term health, the Patriots were happy to re-up Newton for another low-cost season.

Latest On Patriots’ QB Outlook

February 28th, 2021 at 10:03am CST by Rory Parks

We heard at the beginning of January that the Patriots and quarterback Cam Newton were unlikely to reunite in 2021, but a report from earlier this week suggested that the the door is not closed on a Newton return to Foxborough next season. And multiple sources tell Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that they would not be surprised to see the Pats re-sign the 2015 league MVP.

After all, HC Bill Belichick reportedly loved coaching Newton, and Volin hears that even after the 2020 campaign, Belichick has raved about the effort that Newton put forth last season. He is concerned about Newton’s arm strength — which is understandable given the 31-year-old’s disappointing passing performance during his first season with New England — but he appears open to continuing the relationship just the same. Newton, meanwhile, has been similarly candid about how much he enjoyed playing for the Pats, so if the two sides can agree to another inexpensive contract, a re-up could be in the cards.

Of course, the club has also had conversations about every quarterback in the league that could be available via trade, and the expectation remains that the Pats will select a QB in the early rounds of this year’s draft (perhaps with their No. 15 overall selection). So if Newton comes back, it obviously won’t be as anything more than a bridge option to a younger passer, and Mike Reiss of ESPN.com suggests that the team could even re-sign Newton and pair him with another veteran.

If New England goes that route, one obvious option would be to re-sign longtime Patriot Brian Hoyer, as Volin notes. Volin also believes that Mitchell Trubisky could be on the Pats’ radar, and at this point in their respective careers, Trubisky certainly appears to have a higher ceiling than Newton. Some have connected the dots between New England and former Belichick draftee Jacoby Brissett, but Volin sees a Brissett signing as unlikely since he did not “click” with Belichick and OC Josh McDaniels before he was dealt to the Colts in 2017. Assuming the Patriots do end up adding two QBs this offseason, Jarrett Stidham‘s roster status will be very much in doubt.

One collegiate signal-caller that has been routinely mocked to the Patriots is Alabama QB Mac Jones. As Reiss notes in the piece linked above, former New England OC Charlie Weis was effusive in his praise of Jones, and Weis sees him as a perfect fit in the Pats’ offense. Though he is not as athletic as some of the other passers in this year’s class, Jones is more than capable of moving around in the pocket and can make accurate throws to every part of the field.

If the Pats really want Jones, though, they may have to trade up from the No. 15 pick. His stock is rising, and ESPN draftniks Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay both believe he will be off the board by the time New England is on the clock.

Patriots Calling On Every QB, Newton Wants To Return

February 22nd, 2021 at 2:23pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The quarterback carousel has already seen some crazy shuffling, and we’re only just getting started on this offseason. There are plenty of teams out there still looking to make a move, including the Patriots.

New England was a big disappointment on offense last year, and it sounds like Bill Belichick is leaving no stone unturned as he pursues possible upgrades at the game’s most important position. To that end, the Pats “have had conversations regarding every potential trade target in the league,” sources told Jeff Howe of The Athletic. We know they were briefly involved in Matthew Stafford talks, and this would seem to indicate they’ve at least called about guys like Deshaun Watson, Carson Wentz, Sam Darnold, and potentially others such as Marcus Mariota, Jimmy Garoppolo, or even Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson.

Howe writes bluntly that “if a quarterback has been perceived to be available, the Patriots have picked up the phone.” Howe thinks Belichick is taking a purposefully patient approach to avoid overpaying and to see if the asking price on a veteran he’s interested in goes down once the market starts to dry up.

As for the incumbent starter, impending free agent Cam Newton, Howe writes that the team hasn’t “ruled out” bringing him back for another year. For his part, it sounds like the former MVP would love to return.

On a recent episode of the ‘I Am Athlete’ podcast, Newton said “hell yes” when asked if he would go back to New England, via Doug Kyed of NESN (Twitter link). Newton says he’s “getting tired of changing” and is at a point in his career where he wants continuity. He emphasized that he already knows a lot more about the system than he did last year, and that all the receivers are now more comfortable with him.

When he was asked if there was a chance of him playing for the Pats in 2021, he said “there’s always a chance for everything,” but said “I can’t say that” when asked if he had been talking with the franchise.

Patriots’ Cam Newton Won’t Wait To Sign

January 6th, 2021 at 12:36pm CST by Zachary Links

Cam Newton is on track for free agency in the spring. This time around, the Patriots quarterback tells Greg Hill of WEEI that he doesn’t want to wait until the summer to sign a deal.

“That’s definitely going to go into consideration,” Newton said (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). “I’m not going to wait in the latter part of another season when I have the opportunity to do something or sign with someone.”

Though no decision has been made, the Patriots are not expected to re-sign Newton. Newton threw for just five touchdowns against ten interceptions, resulting in an NFL-low 78.9 quarterback rating. The Patriots expected more from the former MVP, and they missed the playoffs for the first time in a long time.

Newton may still hold appeal for other teams, given his potential and the dearth of talent at the QB position. Plus, he’s shown he can still be effective with his feet, having rushed 126 times for 513 yards (4.1 YPC average) and 12 TDs. He also stayed healthy – no small feat, given his pre-Patriots history.

No matter where he lands, the 31-year-old has every intention of starting.

“If you are asking me, Do I want to be a backup? Hell no!,” Newton said. “When I look at other teams, and I’m looking at other players play, there have been guys that have been getting away with murder for years because of subpar play. Do I have the right to say that with the year I had this year? No. But I’m going to be honest and say it because that’s what I do.”

Patriots Not Expected To Re-Sign Cam Newton

January 3rd, 2021 at 12:28pm CST by Rory Parks

Cam Newton and the Patriots are expected to part ways after the season, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Sunday NFL Countdown this morning (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). This jibes with a report from Mike Reiss of ESPN.com last month.

These rumors are hardly surprising. The 2020 season has mostly been a struggle for Newton and the Patriots, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Newton has thrown for just five TDs against 10 interceptions, and his 78.9 quarterback rating is among the league’s worst.

The good news is that he has shown he can still be an effective runner, having rushed 126 times for 513 yards (good for a 4.1 YPC average) and 12 scores. Plus, he has managed to stay healthy this season after concerns about his injury history forced him to accept a below-market deal with the Pats in late June.

Newton’s trip to free agency last offseason was delayed because the Panthers waited to release him until they explored trade options, and COVID-19 protocols at the time did not permit interested teams to evaluate him for awhile. He will have a better chance at securing a favorable deal this offseason, but his poor passing performance will limit his market.

The former MVP would certainly have fared better with a more talented set of receivers surrounding him, but it would still be surprising to see a team sign him and give him a starting job outright. Instead, he will probably be brought aboard by a club that wants to have him compete for a starting role.

The Patriots, meanwhile, will still have Jarrett Stidham under contract in 2021, but they are likely to bring in an established veteran or use a high draft choice on a rookie passer.

Cam Newton To Remain Patriots’ QB

December 11th, 2020 at 8:35am CST by Rory Parks

After picking up back-to-back wins to keep themselves in the AFC playoff picture, the Patriots were pummeled by the Rams in last night’s primetime affair. With New England trailing 24-3 in the fourth quarter, head coach Bill Belichick pulled starting QB Cam Newton in favor of Jarrett Stidham. But even though the loss effectively torpedoed the Pats’ postseason hopes, Belichick is not benching Newton.

When asked about his quarterback situation after the game, the future Hall of Fame HC said, “Great question. Really glad you asked that. Cam’s our quarterback” (Twitter link via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe).

Newton, 31, signed a very modest one-year pact with the Patriots in late June. Though he has shown flashes of his old self, particularly as a runner, the 2020 campaign has largely been a struggle. Over 12 games, he has thrown for just 2,172 yards and five TDs against 10 interceptions, good for a 78.9 quarterback rating. On the plus side, he has maintained a 4.0 yards-per-carry average over 113 rushing attempts and has found paydirt 11 times on the ground.

He has certainly not had a world-class contingent of skill position talent to work with, and he has been dealing with an abdomen injury that certainly could have impacted his performance in last night’s game (to his credit, Newton denied that his poor play was due to injury). Still, it might make sense for New England to at least give Stidham, a second-year passer who looked as though he would be the club’s starting quarterback before the Newton signing, a chance to show what he can do with a full week of first-team practice reps and an offensive scheme more tailored to his skillset.

Belichick, though, will continue rolling with the 2015 league MVP, whose market value probably won’t be much higher in 2021 than it was in 2020. And as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com said this morning, Newton is unlikely to be back with the Patriots next season, even if the team wanted to re-sign him (video link).

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Newton, Jets

November 23rd, 2020 at 11:10am CST by Zachary Links

Midway through an up-and-down year with the Patriots, does Cam Newton want to return in 2021? The quarterback claims that he hasn’t given it much thought.

“Man, I have interest in winning the Arizona Cardinals game. How about that?” Newton told WEEI (via NBC Sports). “There are so many things that — I don’t want to even harp, dwell, or even think – as the Bible says, my cup runneth over. Just trying to focus on the near future rather than the far future.”

Newton has led the Pats to wins over the Dolphins, Raiders, and Ravens this year, but he also has seven interceptions across nine games. All in all, he’s 4-5 as the Patriots’ starter. The Patriots haven’t missed the playoffs since 2008, and they’ll be in rough shape if Newton can’t deliver against the Cardinals this weekend.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

The Patriots had Stephon Gilmore back on the field against the Texans. The reason for his three-game absence? Gilmore says his knee injury occurred was caused by a collision in practice (via ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss). Fortunately, it looks like he’s healed up significantly, though his presence wasn’t enough for the Pats to win on Sunday.
The Jets are expected to do some defensive demolition this offseason, according to ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. In fact, GM Joe Douglas could wind up with seven new starters — safeties Marcus Maye and Bradley McDougald; cornerbacks Pierre Desir and Brian Poole; and linebackers Tarell Basham, Jordan Jenkins, and Neville Hewitt are all ticketed for free agency. Maye is the best of the bunch, but the Jets have flirted with trading him in the past. Defensive lineman Henry Anderson is also on the chopping block, thanks to his $9.5MM cap figure for 2021.
Douglas will be in charge of the roster, but it’s not clear whether owner Woody Johnson or CEO Christopher Johnson will be running the show. As Cimini notes, Woody may be free to return from his ambassador role in January.
The Dolphins benched Tua Tagovailoa against the Broncos, but the star rookie will continue to start ahead of Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Patriots Notes: Gilmore, Newton, Edelman

November 1st, 2020 at 11:41am CST by Rory Parks

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is usually tight-lipped when it comes to, well, just about everything, but he was quite candid in discussing his team’s struggles this season. The 2-4 Pats are in the midst of their first three-game losing streak since 2002, and Belichick suggested that one of his club’s goals in 2020 was to get right with the salary cap after years of heavy investments.

“This is kind of the year that we’ve taken to, I would say, adjust our cap from the spending that we’ve had in accumulation of prior years,” Belichick said (via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com). “We just haven’t been able to have the kind of depth on our roster that we’ve had in some other years.”

In addition to their league-leading eight COVID-19 opt-outs, the Pats are carrying about $26MM of dead cap charges this season, and as Reiss indicated back in March, the club’s financial picture in 2021 is much brighter. New England may be taking its lumps in 2020, but it is still lurking in the AFC East and is eyeing a major rebound next year.

Now for more out of Foxborough:

Stephon Gilmore‘s name has come up in trade rumors, but Reiss says the Pats are not actively shopping their star corner, which is consistent with what we heard several days ago. However, the ESPN scribe suggests that Belichick could be willing to listen if a rival club were to offer a first- or second-round draft choice. Assuming that does not happen, then Gilmore is likely to finish out the season with New England. The two sides would need to address his contract situation at that point, as Gilmore is under club control through 2021 and will be seeking a healthy extension.
As of this writing, the Patriots have not done much to suggest that they will be sellers at this week’s trade deadline, but if they fall to the division-rival Bills today, that could change, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirms.
QB Cam Newton was benched in a blowout loss to the 49ers last week, and though the time he missed due to COVID-19 certainly could explain his recent struggles, the Pats are still alarmed by the number of mistakes he’s making, per Jay Glazer of FOX Sports (video link). While Newton’s job is not in imminent danger, he could lose the starting gig if he does not turn it around soon.
New England’s WR depth chart, which is already quite thin, took another hit when Julian Edelman was placed on IR with a knee injury. Belichick said he expects the veteran pass catcher to be back this season, but several people close to Edelman have their doubts, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link). Edelman’s knee has been bothering him for awhile, and although his recent surgery helped alleviate some discomfort, the knee is still bone-on-bone. The Pats could save $4MM against the cap by moving on from the 34-year-old at season’s end, and one wonders if he might have played his last game for New England.
In an effort to bolster their WR group, the Pats plan to have veteran wideout Donte Moncrief come in for a workout, per Reiss (via Twitter). The former third-rounder has generally struggled to live up to expectations in his career, and he was recently released off the Jets’ practice squad. Given Gang Green’s own receiver issues, that’s not a good sign, but Moncrief is only 27 and still possesses plenty of physical tools.
In addition to Moncrief, the Pats are also bringing in fellow WR Darius Jennings and DT Ryan Glasgow, according to Reiss. Albert Breer of SI.com says the team recently hosted FB Roosevelt Nix (Twitter link).

Extra Points: Newton, Gase, Thomas

October 25th, 2020 at 8:19pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Patriots took an ugly loss Sunday as they got demolished 33-6 by the visiting 49ers. Things got so bad that Jarrett Stidham came in and replaced Cam Newton somewhat early in the fourth quarter and played the rest of the game. Newton had just 98 yards and three interceptions before exiting, but he isn’t in any danger of losing his starting job at the moment. Head coach Bill Belichick said after the game that Newton was “absolutely” still his starter.

He added that he just wanted to get the youngster Stidham some more game experience by throwing him out there in a contest that was already decided. Newton now has five interceptions and no passing touchdowns over his past two games since returning from catching COVID-19. It’s unclear whether the virus messed with his conditioning or if anything else is ailing him, but his play has dropped off dramatically from his hot start as a member of the Patriots. Whatever the case, it doesn’t sound like Belichick is planning on making a switch under center anytime soon.

Here’s more from around the league:

Adam Gase first conceded publicly that he was mulling giving up play-calling duties a couple of weeks ago, and he finally made the plunge on Sunday. Gase handed off the responsibilities to offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains for their Week 7 game against the Bills, Brian Costello of the New York Post reports. New York got off to a hot start and they actually led Buffalo at halftime, before completely collapsing and only gaining four total yards in the second half. The last 30 minutes may have changed Gase’s mind, and he said after the game that play-calling will be a week to week decision. He also insisted the decision to give it up was his and his alone.
Major waves were made last week when we heard that the Saints could potentially be open to trading Michael Thomas in the wake of his antics that got him suspended for one game for fighting a teammate in practice, but it doesn’t sound like New Orleans’ leadership is seriously considering the idea. Head coach Sean Payton immediately responded to a tweet about the report, mocking the idea that actual ‘insiders’ said any such thing (link via Katherine Terrell of the Athletic). While Thomas probably won’t be dealt he is still hurt, and now Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that there’s a good chance Thomas isn’t ready for Week 8 against the Bears due to his hamstring injury. Thomas tweaked his hamstring while working his way back from the high ankle sprain he suffered back in Week 1. With Emmanuel Sanders on the COVID-19 list, the Saints could be without each of their top two wideouts still when they go up against a tough Chicago defense next week.
After rookie Sam Sloman has looked quite shaky to start the year, the Rams went out and signed kicker Kai Forbath earlier this week. But since Forbath wasn’t able to enter the facility until today due to COVID-19 protocols, he won’t be the kicker for their Monday Night Football game against the Bears. That means Sloman will have at least one more chance to prove he deserves the job. Under the bright lights of a nationally televised game with his competition breathing down his neck, the pressure will certainly be on.

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