Pats Re-sign Cam Newton to a 1-Year Deal

BaseballJones

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There had better be a draft move, or a move to add something else at QB because we are pretty sure where that experiment will lead, having just gone through it.
 

sodenj5

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I can see you laughing while posting this and I am not enjoying it...
lol. All in all, Cam fits where they are. His presence doesn’t stop them from drafting a long term replacement (Mac Jones?) and letting Cam being a stop gap veteran.
 

NDame616

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does this change much? We need a backup QB, he's better than Hoyer and Stid. Cam wasn't going to get a starting job anywhere. Maybe we will still be in on "every single available" QB and let Cam compete for the job. I'm guessing the cost is nothing and we can cut him easily
 

GreyisGone

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DJnVa

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Also, can't wait for everyone that's no longer following the Patriots now to chime in. Multiple times.

Here, I will stipulate--if you posted previously about being "out" if Cam is back, you don't need to remind us, we remember.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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I am surprisingly fine with this. They clearly like him a great deal. A year deal means they can move on easily if after a full offseason he doesn't make improvements. BB quite obviously loves the guy. Good enough for me.

Nothing precludes them from taking a QB at 15 if the right one is there. I also think part of it is that they love his work ethic even as the results weren't there last year. BB constantly praised him for how hard he worked. It's a good example for any young QB coming into the team.
 

TSC

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If anything - this brings me a bit of comfort.

This says the Pats aren't going to go all in on one of the FA options (none of whom were very attractive to begin with) and instead are planning for the future with a long term solution.
 

bigq

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This is an insurance policy and I’m okay with it. Hope they can get someone better before the season starts.
 

Rico Guapo

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does this change much? We need a backup QB, he's better than Hoyer and Stid. Cam wasn't going to get a starting job anywhere. Maybe we will still be in on "every single available" QB and let Cam compete for the job. I'm guessing the cost is nothing and we can cut him easily
He might be a better leader than Stidham, but I refuse to believe he is a better quarterback. He has no ability to place the ball accurately on almost any throw and it's painful to watch him play the position.
 

bsj

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Awful. Another season of running when we should be passing because he has no arm. Another season of bounce passes and overthrows. Another season of the worst offense in the league. Another season of a half measure gimmick offense.

But he works hard in practice. Woo.

I am just stunned.
 

jsinger121

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Awful. Another season of running when we should be passing because he has no arm. Another season of bounce passes and overthrows. Another season of the worst offense in the league. Another season of a half measure gimmick offense.

I am just stunned.
Get ready for another 7-9 or 8-8 season or worse.
 

BigSoxFan

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JFC.

He can be the backup and Taysom Hill equivalent. Somebody else had better be actually throwing the passes this year.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Ugh. Hoping for the best but my expectations are extremely low here. Sorry Bill, I can't trust ya this time.
 

johnmd20

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I like Cam and I don't mind this move. But being able to throw the ball is an important attribute for a QB and I'm not sure Cam can throw the ball. Maybe his shoulder will be better this year, but he's a fine stop gap option.
 

bsj

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$14 MILLION from our cap space for THIS? What the hell are they DOING? What about his performance last year warranted a 3 fold increase in salary?

I am literally floored right now. This makes no sense.
 

Salem's Lot

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Belichick obviously loves Cam. He probably feels like a respected veteran guy like Cam, who by all accounts has completely bought in to Belichick’s coaching and the system, would be the perfect guy in the QB room to play for a year and mentor the guy that they will inevitably draft in round 2-3 to take over in 2022. I know it’s a different sport, but he’s probably hoping Cam can be Martin LaPointe to the kid they draft being Patrice Bergeron.
 

boca

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$14 MILLION from our cap space for THIS? What the hell are they DOING? What about his performance last year warranted a 3 fold increase in salary?

I am literally floored right now. This makes no sense.
Hopefully heavily incentivised.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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FOURTEEN MILLION??? AFTER LAST SEASON'S PERFORMANCE??????

(yes, I'm yelling)

I mean, I'm ok (I guess) with them bringing him back in a certain capacity, but $14 million after he demonstrated that he's actually....pretty bad?

-deep breaths-

...
...
...

Ok, so trying to look at this glass half-full...

With a bad group of skill players, no real off-season, an underachieving defense, a bunch of key players opting out, having gotten Covid, against one of the hardest schedules in the league, Newton managed to win 7 games. Give him a year under his belt, improved skill players, key defensive players returning, and no Covid, against a much easier schedule (on paper), maybe he can get to 10 wins? Possible?
 

jsinger121

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Cellar-Door

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Great move.
Cam is well liked in the building and in the league, he was professional in an incredibly tough situation and he's a much better option than what was on the roster. If they draft or acquire someone he'll be a great guy to have in the building and as a backup, and if he does play, while I doubt he'll be "good" he's likely to be significantly more productive with a year in the system (also not having COVID) and better weapons.
For as bad as he was last year, he still wasn't that close to being the worst QB in the league, we could do a lot worse than Cam as a worst case scenario.

Edit- $14M seems high, but without knowing how that's split up it's hard to say, if it's mostly incentive based it makes sense.
 

Mystic Merlin

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I’m gonna go ahead and guess that it is incentive laden. I mean, we all know that it is common for the sticker price initially reported to be misleading (see: basically all large FA deals), usually because the reporters don’t have the incentive and guarantee structure initially or they are doing the agent that feeds them info a solid.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Lets see guaranteed money of that. But man Belichick just doesn’t get it anymore. You need a real QB to win. Unless he trades up to find one then this team will be stuck in hell the next few years. I don’t have a ton of faith BB can rebuild this team for the next super bowl champion.
There is nothing precluding them from drafting or bringing in another QB. Let's see how the deal is arranged, it's entirely possible that it's heavily incentivized or structured in a way that make Cam easily cuttable without a huge cap hit.
 

sodenj5

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14 million seems like a spicy meatball, so I would say signing a free agent seems unlikely but a draft pick on their rookie deal meshes well with that contract.
 

bsj

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The only way this makes any sense is if they are thinking no elite FAs will come here without having a QB in place.

That being said, are elite FAs going to come here for that noodle arm? And can we afford all the pieces we need now because we just inexplicably committed $14 million to the 30th ranked QB?

Talking myself in circles here trying to figure this out, knowing we will never get any explanation
 

NJ_Sox_Fan

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Cannot say I saw this coming - maybe him returning, but not at 14M (or anything close to it).

I like Cam, but I just do not see how this makes them any better unless they are very high on a QB in the draft that they feel will be there when they pick.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Lets see guaranteed money of that. But man Belichick just doesn’t get it anymore. You need a real QB to win. Unless he trades up to find one then this team will be stuck in hell the next few years. I don’t have a ton of faith BB can rebuild this team for the next super bowl champion.
I don’t disagree with your premise but if you can explain how they can get a “real QB” this year that’s materially better than Cam and is realistic (in other words, not the Watson pipe dream) I’m all ears.

I think people are vastly overestimating the difference between Cam and, say, Jimmy G, especially when factoring in acquisition cost and the like.
 

Salem's Lot

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Let’s not forget that Cam had Covid, no off-season work with the team, and no real skill players around him. Hell people were ready to sign him to a 4 year deal before he got sick. Draft a kid in the 2nd round, have him learn as the backup, and take over in 2022.

I like that option better than giving San Francisco a pick to pay Jimmy G to miss 8/9 games.
 

Cellar-Door

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View: https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1370363026281484291


This sure sounds like it's incentive heavy based on the "chance to earn a bit more than last year)

Though I think people who thought he was getting the min or something are out of their minds. He was depending on which stats you like somewhere in the 20-27 range of starters last year (PFF had him around 22 I think), that's going to get you the chance to make decent money on a 1 year deal.
 

Ralphwiggum

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I was Ok with it before I saw the $14 million price tag. Hopefully a lot of that is incentives. Cam didn't look like a replacement level QB last year, not sure how he's a better option than whatever would fall out of free agency once the pieces start moving around. I understand why they didn't want to end up where they were last year with no options as the season was getting closer to starting, but that price tag, ugh.

I'm fine with a rebuild and whatever comes after 20 years of dominance is more than OK, but from a fan's perspective I just don't want to watch Cam play because he can't, you know, throw the football.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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This is also either a huge indictment on Stidham or a final effort to light a fire under his ass. The job simply isn't going to be handed to him. He needs to earn it, and now has to earn it ahead of a respected vet making good money.
 

the1andonly3003

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I would have been ok with this if it was a 1yr $5MM deal...but this looks like 2nd tier starting Qb money

although if we spread it over 2 years, Cam would have been paid $8MM for each season, which is top tier backup or real bad starter QB money
 

mwonow

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At 14 mil and after last season, who could they possibly have been bidding against?