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The story came down last night in the early evening from Adam Schefter and caused me to jump for joy, the New England Patriots have signed former NFL MVP Cam Newton. Wow. Earlier in the offseason, there was speculation that this could be a mutually beneficial relationship, but many of the New England media members quickly shot it down, saying that the fit wasn’t right and the price tag was too high. But clearly, something changed. It could have been Newton’s asking price, since the deal is reportedly for 1 year, worth up to 7.5 million, a discount really considering this guy was the MVP in 2015 and was having his most efficient season in 2018 before a shoulder injury.

Since that other QB we used to have went down to Tampa, I have been in on signing Cam Newton. I think he gives us by far the best chance to win of any of the quarterbacks on the roster or that were available. Nothing against Stidham, he still very well could be the QB of the future in Foxboro, but I believe that this is a sign that Belichick does not think he is 100% ready to carry the load. Otherwise, Newton would have been signed a lot sooner than June 28th, COVID19 or no COVID19. And speaking of the pandemic, aside from Instagram stories, we don’t know much about the health of Newton. He looks damn good working out in those videos, but it remains to be seen how that translates to the NFL field. Back to Stidham though, the Newton signing doesn’t mean curtains for his aspirations of being a starter. Well, okay, for this year in all likelihood it does. But this could be Belichick and McDaniels wanting to have Stidham learn a more modernized offense as an understudy to Newton for the year. This would give him another year of development without being thrown to the wolves of opposing elite NFL defenses that could shake his confidence. Stidham and Newton also have a few interesting connections in their past. Both played at Auburn during Gus Malzahn’s tenure. Malzahn was Newton’s OC and Stidham’s head coach. If Stidham can put aside his desire to be the starter, he could learn a lot from Newton and benefit in the long term.

Aside from Stidham’s development and the long-term future, what does Cam Newton signing in New England mean for the short term of this season? Assuming health, I’m going to say a ton of good. The Patriots, in my opinion, are back to a top 5 NFL team. I may be full on drunk on the red, white, and blue KoolAid, but I firmly believe the Patriots just got a game changer at the most important position on the field. Although the defense lost Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy, I think they are still one of the best defenses in the NFL. The secondary has reigning DPOY Stephon Gilmore, JC Jackson, both McCourty brothers, and Patrick Chung. That is a load of knowledge of the system, playmaking ability, and solid tackling in the second level; the secondary unit should be elite once again. Lawrence Guy, Adam Butler, and newly signed Beau Allen should do a solid job of shoring up the interior and limiting the run game. Second year Chase Winovich and hopefully Deatrich Wise will be on the edge rushing. Hightower and Jawaun Bentley will call defensive signals from the middle linebacker spots. And finally look for rookies Anfernee Jennings and Josh Uche to make immediate impacts on the edge and in outside linebacker spots. So long story short, the defense is going to be a major strength of this team.

On offense, you still have the safety blankets in Edelman and James White. Even as he gets older and takes more hits, Jules is still reliable. N’Keal Harry should see a ton of more opportunities to get on the field and involved in the offense without someone at QB who is picky about throwing to people. Mohamed Sanu is supposedly healthy and primed for his best season. With newly signed fullback Dan Vitale, perhaps Sony Michel can get back to some of that impressive downhill running we saw in his rookie season. And maybe rookie tight ends Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene can give you something. After all, something would be better than the nothing that the Patriots got from the tight end group last year. And all of this was in place with either Stidham or Brian Hoyer as the QB. And as Owen Bachiocchi wrote earlier in the offseason, 9-7 felt like the floor for that team. Well now, the presumed starter is Cam Newton. A former MVP, with incredible strength and athleticism, a powerful arm, and an ability to just play at a higher level than Stidham (we think) and Hoyer (WE ABSOLUTELY KNOW).

Newton’s dynamic ability to run and throw allows Josh McDaniels to dial up so many more plays than he could with Brady’s lack of mobility. I have been critical to put it lightly of McDaniels playcalling in recent years, but it has been rumored for quite some time that he wanted a mobile quarterback to work with. Well now he’s got it so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and see what he’s got up his sleeve. I look for the Patriots to now have not only a few different designed QB runs, but dip heavily into the RPO game with Newton. Newton had some brief but very good success with the RPO game in his last full year in Carolina, which helped the immediate emergence of Christian McCafferey. Now granted, CMAC has been a beast without Newton there, but the Patriots have an elite receiving back of their own in James White. White isn’t as quick and strong as McCafferey, but he is an elite pass catching back who can be shifty running the ball as well. Newtons quick decision making to either hand the ball of or look for a quick hitter in the passing game to Edelman or Sanu could be a lethal way to move to ball down the field. These RPO plays have not really been available to the Patriots in recent years. Bottom line, plain and simple the Patriots with Cam Newton are better than the Patriots were yesterday without him. A team that was looking at somewhere from 8-8 to 10-6 on the backs of defense and a running game, got a dynamic and experienced QB that once again should make them favorites in the AFC East and probably the 2nd best team in the AFC behind the Chiefs. I think the Patriots are now very much in play to be a 12-4 football team and I can’t wait to see how the Cam Newton era plays out.