If you had any doubt left in your heart of hearts, Patriots head coach/GM Bill Belichick has officially lost his mind. The final damning proof came this morning as reports emerged that quarterback Cam Newton is re-signing with New England: a one-year deal worth up to $14 million (with $6 million tied to incentives regarding NFL honors and the playoffs that honestly he won't come close to reaching). Make no mistake, Newton will be the starting quarterback this fall with the Pats. Belichick is notoriously cheap so there is no way that he would pay a backup QB that type of money. Keep in mind that Cam has never been a backup probably his entire life so you think he's going to embrace that transition? Please, get real.
All we could hope as fans of the Patriots was that last season's 7-9 misery (while Tom Brady and the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in his first year there!) would serve as a bridge to a brighter future for New England. They would sign someone better in free agency, trade for a guy and draft a promising young QB while they were at it. Nope, instead we are forced to pretend that last year didn't happen (which with Covid-19, don't we all wish that it did?) and perhaps with a full off-season, a slight upgrade in weapons (still impatiently waiting on those), perhaps Cam can resemble an NFL-caliber signal-caller and not a player whose best years are far behind him and should probably retire before he suffers another serious injury.
Newton went 7-8 as the starter for the Patriots last season (he missed one game with Covid) and his numbers tell the whole pathetic story: he threw for 2657 yards with eight touchdowns (8!) and 10 interceptions. Always known more for his running ability than throwing ability-which is totally shot at this point-he rushed for 592 yards and 12 touchdowns but he also fumbled five times. Cam will turn 32-years-old in May which doesn't seem old by NFL star quarterback standards these days but don't forget how much of a pounding he's taken his whole career based on his playing style and huge size.
The timing of this move somehow turned out to be even more painful since it came on the exact same day and basically at the same hour that Brady agreed to a four-year extension with the Bucs that voids to a one-year extension that will keep him in Tampa through the 2022 season. Tom has famously outlasted all his peers and with today's events, you have to wonder if he'll still be excelling in the NFL while his old head coach is forced to retire after multiple losing seasons in a row. That's not hyperbole, think about it. If the Patriots keep going down this road to mediocrity and irrelevance, you have to think that at some point the Krafts will have to step in and take grandpa's car keys away from him. Seriously. For a man that always preaches team first and that winning is the only objective in everything that he does, Belichick proved once and for all that what he cares about most now is someone that will be his lackey (Newton) vs. a much more talented person that would dare to challenge his infinite wisdom (Brady). Ugh, I'm going to need many beers to drown out this terrible feeling on what should be a great day-it's 60+ degrees and sunny in Massachusetts in mid-March.
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