Cam Newton signs with Carolina

E5 Yaz

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Why did we need an entire video fucking explaining it though? He kind of brought it on himself, yeah? If he just went quietly into the night, nothing would be said, but he can't help himself. He's a great dude that constantly needs attention and the spotlight. This was a dog and pony show for no reason.
He's allowed to address his release and his time with the Patriots.

What was unnecessary is the knee-jerk picking apart of his comments. There's no reason for the reactions.
 

johnmd20

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He's allowed to address his release and his time with the Patriots.

What was unnecessary is the knee-jerk picking apart of his comments. There's no reason for the reactions.
Cam's trying to get another job in the NFL. This video is part of that. This is basic marketing 101.
 

CantKeepmedown

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I don't give a shit about all of the jibber jabber, but I find it SHOCKING that he's never had to identify the MIKE or set protections before. Knowing that, I can't believe the Pats ever signed him in the first place, regardless of how bad their QB situation was.
So, I know nothing about the ins and outs of football other than just watching games every Sunday for the past 25-30 years. I don''t watch film or break things down. But is Cam accurate in saying that there are probably only 2 teams in the league that ask their QB's to do that?

You can always hear Brady saying "52 is the MIKE" and I feel like I've heard several others do so too. Is Cam just trying to make an excuse for himself?
 

lexrageorge

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Why did we need an entire video fucking explaining it though? He kind of brought it on himself, yeah? If he just went quietly into the night, nothing would be said, but he can't help himself. He's a great dude that constantly needs attention and the spotlight. This was a dog and pony show for no reason.
He put out a video on social media, just like every other fucking athlete on this planet. He didn't trash the team or anyone associated with it. At worst, it's a "who cares?" thing.
 

lexrageorge

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What? If you put something out publicly, you open yourself to criticism, fair or not. The video was ridiculous on many levels.
You mean it's ridiculous for him to audition for another QB job in the NFL? Or for his post-NFL career? Noone said you have to hire him.
 

E5 Yaz

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What? If you put something out publicly, you open yourself to criticism, fair or not. The video was ridiculous on many levels.
Of course you open yourself to criticism. That doesn't mean that criticism is required to be expressed.

Ridiculous, meanwhile, is in the eye of the beholder
 

lambeau

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Cam's spin is that last year he was given a broken down 20 year old Civic firing on 3 cylinders, and Mac is being a Porsche that Cam could take to 5-0; but that would interfere with the media and higher-ups who want a QB who doesn't look like Cam--and 30 NFL teams don't ask the QB to read defensive alignments. Really?
 

DourDoerr

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This is exactly why I stated late last season that I didn't want Cam re-signed if they drafted a young QB. Cam gets it. He's the elephant in the room. He was always going to be the elephant in the room and you could see it from 30 miles away. Luckily, he was very gracious in this interview about the present state of his skills, Mac's emergence, and acknowledging how his presence would complicate the locker room. Disaster averted.

BTW this interview is genius. When it starts you see the lighting setup - this had real production values. His dad is a great foil and gets to bring up the uncomfortable stuff which allows Cam to have that side of the argument aired without it coming out of his mouth. If he never plays another down, he should have a great career in the studio. I don't expect him to say much, but he'll say it with charm.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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Cam’s dad is awesome all right. The same guy who (allegedly) shopped his son around the SEC when he was kicked out of Florida for the laptop incident. Apparently Auburn ponied up the most.
If only he were to be a HS senior now, or if the NCAA had stopped fucking over its athletes 15 years ago...
 

joe dokes

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Cam's comments are a nothingburger. The haters would still hate him no matter what he said. I don't see him making excuses at all, except perhaps for the MIKE stuff. But that's the system McDaniels has put in place.

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised Cam would say that openly, as it seems like it would limit his job opportunities. But perhaps it's a known thing with Cam among the coaching staffs in the league; after all, the coaching fraternity is an interconnected web when you include the assistants.
I'm not even sure that's an excuse. Its like an adult admitting they cant read.
Some of his words may have been inartful, but I dont see any excuse-making or bitterness or anything like that. The 10/2 reps thing is probably easily provabale (and probably will be one way ore the other), and if untrue, is a little weird. Otherwise, it's just a guy who has played football for as long as he can remember, staring down the barrel of notgoodenoughanymore.
 

Gash Prex

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I assume some of this discussion is directed at me given I called his comments nonsense - using the common definition of nonsense of "spoken or written words that have no meaning or make no sense. " Not that Cam is a terrible person (other than the vaccination thing). His dad on the other hand seems less great.

To be clear, I like Cam and I have no personal animus towards Cam other than his terrible quarterback play after he got covid and his refusal to vaccinate. People seem to like Cam and in my opinion, give him a "pass" on his play because of his likability. I found these specific comments (and discussions) from the 33 minute video to be nonsense:

1) "Mac Jones didn't beat me out. "
2) ""That time with me finding out [about the release] and kind of seeing things different, when I look back at it, I was probably getting two reps to his 10 reps. And that's why it was starting to make sense"
3) "I think that's where they did a good job with kind of disguising it: 'Cam took first-team reps today.' "
4) "People are interested by mere fact of 'Who is he? Why does he wear his hair? Why does he talk? Why does he act? Why does he perform?' All these questions."
5) Rookie QB Mac Jones would’ve felt “uncomfortable.”
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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I don't give a shit about all of the jibber jabber, but I find it SHOCKING that he's never had to identify the MIKE or set protections before. Knowing that, I can't believe the Pats ever signed him in the first place, regardless of how bad their QB situation was.
I like Cam, but I was convinced he was going to be a giant bust in the NFL after watching him with John Gruden talking about how they called and ran plays for him at Auburn:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqOj810ggx4&ab_channel=ESPNThrowback


I was also convinced Ryan Mallet was going to be really good for the same reason:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAkdOs8IxLQ&ab_channel=6Magazine


In retrospect, I was massively biased about Mallett due to being an Arkansas and Patriots fan, but the contrast in how they could break down plays is stunning. I haven't watched either video in like 10 years, and don't immediately have time to right now so this is mostly off memory, but both linked for anyone interested.
 

Mystic Merlin

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This is exactly why I stated late last season that I didn't want Cam re-signed if they drafted a young QB. Cam gets it. He's the elephant in the room. He was always going to be the elephant in the room and you could see it from 30 miles away. Luckily, he was very gracious in this interview about the present state of his skills, Mac's emergence, and acknowledging how his presence would complicate the locker room. Disaster averted.

BTW this interview is genius. When it starts you see the lighting setup - this had real production values. His dad is a great foil and gets to bring up the uncomfortable stuff which allows Cam to have that side of the argument aired without it coming out of his mouth. If he never plays another down, he should have a great career in the studio. I don't expect him to say much, but he'll say it with charm.
Yeah, Brady has done this for years in his choreographed Jim Gray interviews. Gray is the voice for Brady’s frustrations - which legitimizes whatever they are and puts them in people’s heads - and Brady gets to respond as the happy go lucky, I just don’t like conflict and your truth is yours and mine is mine good guy. It’s a smart PR tactic, even if it is a bit cowardly.
 

Buck Showalter

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My parents always said, “if you don’t have something nice to say to say – don’t say anything at all”.

This time (and most times) I’m going to ignore them; so here it goes:

Cam has always been – and will always be an attention-seeking whore. His ostentatious fashion and his slide-stepping pirouettes while on the field are the perfect flammables to compliment his wretched performance while wearing #1 for the New England Patriots.

This franchise during the Belichick-era has been the quintessential “shut up, do your job, and just win” model for all other professional sports teams. And Cam Newton was the antithesis of that.

Behind closed doors, maybe he really was a great teammate. Perhaps his laughter, his loose-style, the nicknames he compiled – may work for a franchise seeking short-term respectability following a string of disastrous seasons. For “this” franchise (and this fanbase) which is seeking a return to elite-level football – the occasional ‘clownish antics’ (like the kind we saw via Gronk) could only follow a high-level of performance and success in the postseason. Cam hadn’t achieved that at any time during his short Patriot-tenure – as a result, his goofy-act could easily be regarded as stale, undesired and expendable.

Like many of you, I’ve been a Patriots fan long before success became a habit in Foxboro. I desire a return to watching NFL games when only 2 or 4 teams remain in the tournament.

What I don’t desire is for this franchise to be led (on the field anyway) by a clown who is constantly looking for the cameras and the microphones before ever playing as an elite-level QB or winning a playoff game while in this region. Good riddance to Cam – crisis averted IMO.
 

CFB_Rules

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Cam’s dad is awesome all right. The same guy who (allegedly) shopped his son around the SEC when he was kicked out of Florida for the laptop incident. Apparently Auburn ponied up the most.
You seem to be implying that this is a negative. God forbid someone interview for more than one job at a time and take the one with the best fit.

Unless we are clutching pearls over the fact that schools pay players. Maybe that was big news for colleges in the '50s. Many high schools do it now.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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If we ever needed confirmation about the demographics of this site, one need look no further than this thread. Its pretty clear that for some people, social media is simply Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. If attention-seeking is an issue, we have an epidemic across all major and minor pro sports across the globe (I mean, even refined, cultured athletes like golfers promote themselves via IG etc). But I guess that's easy to miss if you live in your own self-contained bubble where you try to keep everything homogenous.

Cam Newton doing his own video to tell his side of his story, with no reporter biases or editorial overlay, is probably one of the more savvy things I've seen a professional athlete do of late. On the other hand, the fact that its length can be measured in minutes and not seconds tells you everything you need to know about Newton's age. He may not have just aged out of his profession but also cultural relevance...
 

Willie Clay's Big Play

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Apologies if this has already been mentioned. A few of Cam's points have been discussed, some at length, here on SOSH prior to his release. Perhaps Cam has a SOSH burner?
* Cam can't run the offense pre-snap to keep the Pats out of bad plays.
* Mac sure is getting a lot of reps, not always with the 1's, but many reps.
* If Mac wins the starting job it will tough to keep Cam on - granted much of this was based around the idea that there would be significant challenges to Cam running Mac's offense not that Cam would make Mac "uncomfortable".

All in all, pretty vanilla from Cam. Johnmd nailed it - he wants some more work and this was a great way to showcase his side of the story.

Mac did beat him out though - can't hide that one, Cam, if you are reading this :)
 

Cellar-Door

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My parents always said, “if you don’t have something nice to say to say – don’t say anything at all”.

This time (and most times) I’m going to ignore them; so here it goes:

Cam has always been – and will always be an attention-seeking whore. His ostentatious fashion and his slide-stepping pirouettes while on the field are the perfect flammables to compliment his wretched performance while wearing #1 for the New England Patriots.
I mean... all that stuff is true of Brady. Brady is an attention whore of at least the same level, he's just white and better at football and his attention whoring is more geared at selling things and himself. He's a self-myth maker, Cam is selling that he's a fun interesting guy, Brady is selling something different.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Cam has always been – and will always be an attention-seeking whore. His ostentatious fashion and his slide-stepping pirouettes while on the field are the perfect flammables to compliment his wretched performance while wearing #1 for the New England Patriots.
Some might call Tom Brady an attention-seeking whore with ostentatious fashion.

I wanted Cam to do well here last year but he didn't, and it is time to move on. But shit, the rest of this is just nonsense that you could apply to probably 80% professional athletes.

Edit: Shit beaten
 

Buck Showalter

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I mean... all that stuff is true of Brady. Brady is an attention whore of at least the same level, he's just white and better at football and his attention whoring is more geared at selling things and himself. He's a self-myth maker, Cam is selling that he's a fun interesting guy, Brady is selling something different.
The difference is --- Brady "sought" some attention after he won (and won plenty) in this region.
 

Cellar-Door

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The difference is --- Brady "sought" some attention after he won (and won plenty) in this region.
I mean, Brady was dating movie stars after the first SuperBowl. Cam Newton was the best player in College Football (maybe history) and an NFL MVP. He had plenty of success. Not that it really matters, but people who have an issue with Cam Newton's personality should be honest with themselves, it has nothing to do with this qualities as a player or if he "earned" the right to be flashy. He's a narcissist, so are 90% of football players in the NFL.
 

Kliq

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So, I know nothing about the ins and outs of football other than just watching games every Sunday for the past 25-30 years. I don''t watch film or break things down. But is Cam accurate in saying that there are probably only 2 teams in the league that ask their QB's to do that?

You can always hear Brady saying "52 is the MIKE" and I feel like I've heard several others do so too. Is Cam just trying to make an excuse for himself?
It's pretty routine stuff:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf_Zj1dyS6U
 

BigJimEd

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Would you be surprised if Cam is signed as the backup after week 1? Signed at a low base with incentives if he plays?
With the Patriots? Yes. If the Pats had interest in Cam as a backup they wouldn't have released him. He was already on incentive contract with his base salary guaranteed. They ate that when they released him. I agree with Cam in that he would be a potential distraction and don't really see much upside with him as the backup.


As for Newton claiming Mac didn't beat him out. I'm sure Cam believes it. I and virtually every Pats fan I know would disagree but it's not like he'd be the first player that was replaced by a rookie that might not have been their equal in camp.
 
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Cellar-Door

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It does seem to be a split of teams where the QB calls the protections vs. a lineman though. Usually the teams with long time vets the QB calls it. In NO, Brees called the protection when he was in, but when he was out the center made the calls, GB I'm pretty sure the C makes the calls, BUF it's the C, Obviously when Cam was in CAR it was Kalil. He's probably off on the numbers when he went to 30/32 but I'd guess his original "half the league" was probably pretty accurate
 

NortheasternPJ

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So, I know nothing about the ins and outs of football other than just watching games every Sunday for the past 25-30 years. I don''t watch film or break things down. But is Cam accurate in saying that there are probably only 2 teams in the league that ask their QB's to do that?

You can always hear Brady saying "52 is the MIKE" and I feel like I've heard several others do so too. Is Cam just trying to make an excuse for himself?
I know centers do it as well on teams, but there has to be a huge advantage to a quarterback who can look at a defense and understand what's going on vs. relying on the center to tell them pre-snap.
 

Super Nomario

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It does seem to be a split of teams where the QB calls the protections vs. a lineman though. Usually the teams with long time vets the QB calls it. In NO, Brees called the protection when he was in, but when he was out the center made the calls, GB I'm pretty sure the C makes the calls, BUF it's the C, Obviously when Cam was in CAR it was Kalil. He's probably off on the numbers when he went to 30/32 but I'd guess his original "half the league" was probably pretty accurate
Lombardi said on the GM shuffle (I think before Cam's comments) that centers do it on 80-90% of teams.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The QB is responsible for the ball and so he's got to know if the protection is wrong so he can react appropriately, and sometimes it's going to be wrong - the defense can always send more guys than you can block. So the quarterback has to understand the protections so he can see post-snap when it's not going to work, and at that point it just seems easier to me to have the QB set the protection in the first place.
 

Cellar-Door

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Lombardi said on the GM shuffle (I think before Cam's comments) that centers do it on 80-90% of teams.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The QB is responsible for the ball and so he's got to know if the protection is wrong so he can react appropriately, and sometimes it's going to be wrong - the defense can always send more guys than you can block. So the quarterback has to understand the protections so he can see post-snap when it's not going to work, and at that point it just seems easier to me to have the QB set the protection in the first place.
I would guess the theory is that the line's job is to make sure they have the protection set and the QBs job is to identify coverage? So you're trying to make the QB's job simpler and move quicker by splitting it, and you're asking your QB to trust his line.
 

Carbo Loading

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With the Patriots? Yes. If the Pats had interest in Cam as a backup they wouldn't have released him. He was already on incentive contract with his base salary guaranteed. They ate that when they released him. I agree with Cam in that he would be a potential distraction and don't really see much upside with him as the backup.


As for Newton claiming Mac didn't beat him out. I'm sure Cam believes it. I and virtually every Pats fan I know would disagree but it's not like he'd be the first player that was replaced by a rookie that might not have been their equal in camp.
Well, he got the $3.6m guaranteed already but the rest was tied up in roster bonuses and incentives. If he's not finding a job as a starter elsewhere, he might be agreeable to a backup role without the roster bonuses and incentives that would kick in if he ended up playing for whatever reason.
 

gryoung

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You seem to be implying that this is a negative. God forbid someone interview for more than one job at a time and take the one with the best fit.

Unless we are clutching pearls over the fact that schools pay players. Maybe that was big news for colleges in the '50s. Many high schools do it now.
High schools are paying athletes now? That is a big problem, especially if they are public schools funded from taxpayer base. I’d like to see some examples.
 

Ralphwiggum

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High schools are paying athletes now? That is a big problem, especially if they are public schools funded from taxpayer base. I’d like to see some examples.
You said Cam’s Dad shopped him around to SEC teams and Auburn paid the most. Last I checked the SEC was a college athletic conference. You may be shocked to find out that there are many of us who believe big time college athletes should be able to monetize their talent before they go pro, and that the NCAA’s rules in this regard are antiquated and racist.
 

Captaincoop

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You said Cam’s Dad shopped him around to SEC teams and Auburn paid the most. Last I checked the SEC was a college athletic conference. You may be shocked to find out that there are many of us who believe big time college athletes should be able to monetize their talent before they go pro, and that the NCAA’s rules in this regard are antiquated and racist.
So far from from topic of this thread. Please start a new thread if you want to go down this road, so I can ignore it.
 

BusRaker

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Lombardi said on the GM shuffle (I think before Cam's comments) that centers do it on 80-90% of teams.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The QB is responsible for the ball and so he's got to know if the protection is wrong so he can react appropriately, and sometimes it's going to be wrong - the defense can always send more guys than you can block. So the quarterback has to understand the protections so he can see post-snap when it's not going to work, and at that point it just seems easier to me to have the QB set the protection in the first place.
How the fuck does the center see the entre 11 defenders with 4-6 extremely large men in front of him WHILE SQUATTING?
 

ZMart100

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How the fuck does the center see the entre 11 defenders with 4-6 extremely large men in front of him WHILE SQUATTING?
You get a sense of where people are before you get into your stance, but you can see anyone standing up by looking over the down linemen pretty easily.
 

Old Fart Tree

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I don’t really get all of the “nonsense” reactions here. He was pretty straight up with everything, said he was surprised, but overall handled things well I thought. I mean, he is a former MVP who was just cut and probably realizes it may be over for him now, so I don’t hold it against him to not be super self-aware that he stinks at this point.
That is my take. Every athlete at some point must come to grips with the fact that they no longer are that which they once were. Very few of them do a 30 minute interview that shows them processing that unwelcome newfound realization in real time. That’s what this was. All things considered he comes off pretty sympathetic to me.

That said I’m so fucking glad his hamburger shoulder is no longer a part of the pats game plan. Oof, it just sucked watching him have no idea where his arm was in space.
 

tims4wins

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BB on setting the MIKE

Q: I wanted to ask you about setting 'Mike' points in your offense and if you would say that's a quarterback's responsibility or maybe more of a collaborative effort between the QB and the center?
BB: Ultimately you want everybody to be on the same page, so however it gets done, and it could be a combination of both just as you described. However it gets done, as long as everybody sees it the same way, then I don't think it really matters. The problem is when all the players don't see it the same way or there's confusion as to where the count starts. That's never a good thing, especially if it's a running play, then one guy is unblocked, and if it's a passing play, then potentially one guy is unblocked, which is a problem if they blitz. The most important thing is for everybody to know what it is and execute their assignment because it could be multiple people on the same play depending on how the defense presents itself. If there is some kind of miscommunication or misunderstanding about who's who, then that generally leads to bad outcomes.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Jimbodandy

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I’m sure him being unvaccinated is the reason there hasn’t been more interest in signing him, that must be it.
It's easy to write off stuff like that, but it's really impossible to do so.

For marginal guys, everything counts. Vax is a new consideration of course. But guys having legal problems, guys who are challenging teammates, general douchebags--teams will overlook that shit for the Ray Lewises of the world, but not the Ray Rices (end stage Rice anyway).

Peak Cam probably skates on vax stuff. And maybe 2021 "cut during camp" Cam would be unemployed even if vaxed. But I think that it's nuts to presume that 1. teams aren't keeping a pros/cons tally on FA QBs, and 2. being unvaxed isn't a tally on the con side.

Being vaxed matters. Maybe it's not enough for him to land a gig, but it matters. It's a smart move on his part.
 

NortheasternPJ

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It's easy to write off stuff like that, but it's really impossible to do so.

For marginal guys, everything counts. Vax is a new consideration of course. But guys having legal problems, guys who are challenging teammates, general douchebags--teams will overlook that shit for the Ray Lewises of the world, but not the Ray Rices (end stage Rice anyway).

Peak Cam probably skates on vax stuff. And maybe 2021 "cut during camp" Cam would be unemployed even if vaxed. But I think that it's nuts to presume that 1. teams aren't keeping a pros/cons tally on FA QBs, and 2. being unvaxed isn't a tally on the con side.

Being vaxed matters. Maybe it's not enough for him to land a gig, but it matters. It's a smart move on his part.
Writing it off is idiotic. No matter what you believe on vaccinations, NFL protocols dictate you need a 5 day waiting period for a new unvaxxed player so you have that and what we saw in the preseason where a misstep costs you a week. It is 100% a factor. Cam is a QB now who’s a top 40 qb in the league so he’s a margin player.