Cam Newton to Patriots: What are his injuries, why didnt other teams sign him, how will Pats offense look? – CBS Sports

Web cam Newton is now a member of the Patriots, a remarkably obvious conclusion for the last few months. Individuals declare “Cam wasnt ever accurate” and point to the shoulder injury to suggest Cam is toast. Now you offer him Cam Newton, a former NFL MVP and, in my mind, the biggest hurrying quarterback of all time. The funny thing about Cam Newton is he spent simply about every single day of his life from the moment he stepped foot on Floridas campus until now being a lightning rod. Imagine thinking Belichick lastly lost Brady and then in some way got healthy Cam for a couple seasons.

Webcam offered some very good worth and a lot of benefit. And you understand what makes a power run game instantly better? Thats the sort of calculus/economics Belichick would probably have actually been included in a decade ago if he had not gotten to coach Brady for 20 years.
Now you give him Cam Newton, a former NFL MVP and, in my mind, the biggest rushing quarterback of all time. We have not seen peak Cam in a while, so its simple to forget, but this was the beginning of 2018. It wasnt that long ago.

Its my belief Newton was entirely recovered from his shoulder injury that offseason, but nobody ever in fact saw Newton toss the football much prior to him suffering a foot injury versus the Patriots in the preseason. The Panthers downplayed it, however by Week 2 of 2019, something was plainly incorrect. Newton re-aggravated the foot injury versus Tampa Bay during a 20-14 loss that featured awful weather. People wished to concentrate on his mistake because of the shoulder injury, however it was absolutely the foot injury triggering him to miss throws. Newton hardly stepped into anything that night..

Belichick invests all offseason making overt gestures to suggest hes prepared to roll with Jarrett Stidham and then in the middle of the summer he picks up one of the most unique gamers the sport has actually ever seen for the veterinarian minimum..
Its so engaging and even more so when you think about how the Pats have actually been developing this season. Im securely of the belief Belichick wishes to run the living crap out of the ball this year, understanding an incredibly shortened and distanced offseason will make adding any sort of complicated layers to his offense will make things more tough for groups with restricted amount of practices offered. It makes good sense– consistency is going to be king in 2020, but if you decide to kick 20 years of consistency to the curb, the obvious next move is to make things as easy as possible.
This already remained in place before Newton came into play. The Patriots didnt include a bunch of weapons in the death game this offseason, instead deciding to toss the franchise tag on guard Joe Thuney (TBD if an offer happens, but that relocation is a pretty clear indication how important the run game is) and then spent 2 early draft tease tight ends for the very first time considering that 2010, choosing up Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene in the 3rd round of the draft. Sony Michel was 2018s first-round choice and Damien Harris was a third-round choice last year; this shift has been taking place longer than Belichick would like you to know..
My personal Stidham theory includes Belichick hoping he might recreate 2001, putting a strong defense in place with an excellent run video game and getting some video game management and clutch throws away of his young quarterback. Individuals forget, but Brady didnt come out gunning, he was a game manager who made a profane number of clutch tosses and clever decisions for the early part of his career.

” Not stating that there arent a lot of other good gamers that do that, however I would state, of all the men we play or have played just recently in the last couple of years, hes the hardest man to deal with,” Belichick said back in 2017. He can run. We saw that in the video game down there in 13, so I would put him at the top of the list.
” Not saying the other men arent a problem, since they are, but hes Public Enemy No. 1.”.
Those are the sort of words scheduled for one of Belichicks Guys (Ed Reed, etc). Pretty plainly, Cam is on the Belichick Crush List.
What will this offense appear like?
Im definitely fascinated by what the Patriots are doing this offseason. They just lost Tom Brady. The best quarterback in the history of football “left” (in my viewpoint he didnt get asked back, like it was boarding school, but thats likewise another story for another day) and theyre restarting for the very first time in the history of the biggest dynasty in sports history..

Expense Belichick signing a previous No. 1 general pick and one-time NFL MVP for a veteran minimum offer in the middle of June feels a little too on brand, but considering he had his canine Nike draft a Division II hybrid defensive back linebacker with his very first choice after trading out of the first round, maybe the Patriots coach is just feeling himself this offseason..
Cam Newton is now a member of the Patriots, a remarkably obvious conclusion for the last couple of months. The Patriots plainly believe in Jarrett Stidham, however Newton makes more sense as a replacement for Tom Brady. If he fails to measure up to the lofty standards set by the 20-year Patriots quarterback, it means one of two things: Newton wasnt healthy enough to carry out or Stidham is good enough to vanquish a healthy Cam for the QB1 function..
Neither of those things is a loss for the Pats at the rate tag. This is an upside-filled, no-brainer relocation for New England.
So lets talk about Cams health.
What injury is he returning from?.
Theres a typical perception about Newtons health and how much hes degraded over the last several years. I definitely take umbrage here– Newton has actually revealed several times in the last 2 seasons that hes close to being completely healthy.
Heading into 2018, Newton was at 100 percent. He invested the first eight video games of that season playing impressive football before suffering a shoulder injury versus the Steelers in a blowout Thursday Night Football loss. Newton would never be the very same till going under the knife in January 2019..

If Cams foot is healthy and he plays 16 video games– not a given, but if– the Patriots will steamroll this department again. Go back and watch what Josh McDaniels did when Jacoby Brissett started against Houston in 2015 while Tom Brady was serving his Deflategate suspension. And then the Pats proceeded to run Brissett 10 times in that video game.
When he ran things in Denver, mcdaniels prepared Tim Tebow in the first round. It wasnt for his passing prowess..

through NFL Gamepass.
It became worse after Newton came up limp late in the very first quarter..
People declare “Cam wasnt ever accurate” and indicate the shoulder injury to recommend Cam is toast. Web cam completed practically 68 percent of his passes in 2018 and 67.3 percent prior to hurting his shoulder in Norv Turners offense. He can be precise in an affordable offensive system. He wasnt sailing everything against Tampa Bay since of his shoulder– he couldnt enter anything with a crunked up foot..
For Cam, theres no assurance he comes back from foot injury in completely smooth style. CBS Sports Brady Quinn and I have actually talked about this a lot on the Pick Six Podcast– Brady suffered a Lisfranc injury when playing in the NFL however didnt have surgery on his foot until about a year earlier. Obviously its not the exact same concern as Cam, however speaking to Brady about it, there are clearly some concerns adapting to life after getting your foot surgically repaired, like how to adjust exercises, overcompensating for the foot injury and some mobility concerns..
Again, Im not stating Cam will fight those issues, but it would be unexpected if the healing was totally seamless and finished with in just six months (he truly ought to have had the foot surgical treatment in October, however thats a whole different story)..

Edelman is an ideal Cam receiver. Camera can cut it loose and hell come down and keep running.
If Cam is healthy the Pats are gon na have some wild things to deal with offensively, and a lot of if it will not require them to get out of their base offense. Go 12 personnel with 2 tight ends, pound the ball, run some cool stuff with Cam, rating 21 points and let your defense take over..
Whats the huge takeaway?
The amusing feature of Cam Newton is he spent almost every day of his life from the moment he stepped foot on Floridas school until now being a lightning rod. There are a million reasons and a bunch of them arent football related. Some mama wrote a letter to a Tennessee paper grumbling that Cam had excessive fun on the field. There has never been a time in Cam Newtons football profession where people didnt scream about whatever he was doing..
And After That Bill Belichick signed him. All of us agreed it was a great relocation..
Camera needs to win this job, unless a) hes not healthy or b) Stidham is a beast. In any case is a win for Belichick, due to the fact that he gets a free roll with the most dynamic red zone hazard to ever play professional football. A healthy Cam feels tough since of for how long its been since we saw 16 video games, however its not far-fetched. Imagine thinking Belichick lastly lost Brady and after that somehow got healthy Cam for a couple seasons. The AFC East has been licking its chops for a few years now, however that hubris may have been lost. The boats, they may beat ceaselessly..

Thats specifically why New England persuaded Newton to settle on a vet minutes offer jammed with incentives..
Why didnt anybody else desire Cam?
I got asked this roughly 4 billion times on the radio Monday in the wake of Newtons offer with the Pats, and a big factor for the suspicion from people examining this deal is New England. Anywhere else with no offers and the anti-Cam crowd– and buddy is it a large crowd– is flying out of the woodwork to shout about how he cant be precise or run an NFL offense, blah, blah, blah..
The truth of the scenario is New England was the only landing area for the former MVP. Webcam wanted a possibility to start but couldnt visit anyone for physicals during the early portion of complimentary agency. If you wish to play the rule-out video game, you can rule out the Dolphins, Bills, Jets, Browns, Texans, Chargers, Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Redskins, Giants, Broncos and Cardinals since they all have young quarterbacks they just recently prepared in the 2nd or first round. The Colts, Titans and Buccaneers all signed quarterbacks this offseason. The Panthers cut Cam. The Bears traded for Nick Foles. The Falcons, Saints, Cowboys, Eagles, Lions, Bears, Packers, Steelers, Chiefs, Raiders, 49ers and Rams all have veteran quarterbacks..
That leaves the Pats and Jaguars as the only possible mutual landing areas for Cam. Jacksonville wants to see what it has in Gardner Minshew and is rebuilding. The Pats constantly made sense, particularly with the way Belichick has actually long revered Newton..