Cam Newton signs with Carolina

8slim

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Beyond the obvious - simply not having to watch Cam Newton suck at QB anymore - the other benefit of today's move is that I no longer have to try and square what my eyes were seeing on the field with the idea that Bill Belichick was still choosing to play Cam. It was impossible to watch it, see how bad it was, know Bill Belichick is a football genius, and still have him trot Cam out there every week. I don't know if my tiny brain could have taken that cognitive dissonance for X more weeks.
I think this reinforces that Bill speaks a lot more truth in his press conferences than most people want to acknowledge, myself included. He told us over and over last season that Cam was the starter because he gave the team the best chance to win. We scoffed at that, but Bill was the guy who saw Stidham every day -- in practice, in the film room, in the weight room -- and clearly felt he wasn't capable of playing over a sub-par QB. He then told us when Cam was re-signed that there was more to be done to shore up the QB position. And, of course, this summer he told us that a decision hadn't been made about game 1. I didn't believe that, but Bill was speaking the truth.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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I don't see the Patriots bringing in a QB with zero knowledge of the system ahead of Hoyer. We saw this with the Garoppolo trade, when they made sure to get Hoyer as a backup. If anyone were to get brought in it's probably Brissett or someone that is eligible for the practice squad.

Double twist is 49ers waiving Garoppolo today and Patriots making him the Week 1 starter.
 

Captaincoop

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I don't see the Patriots bringing in a QB with zero knowledge of the system ahead of Hoyer. We saw this with the Garoppolo trade, when they made sure to get Hoyer as a backup. If anyone were to get brought in it's probably Brissett or someone that is eligible for the practice squad.

Double twist is 49ers waiving Garoppolo today and Patriots making him the Week 1 starter.
Who else is out there that played in a Patriots or Patriots' acolyte offense recently?

Jimmy G. Brissett. Colt McCoy and Joe Webb if Judge's NYG offense counts. AJ McCarron.
 

Super Nomario

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I think this reinforces that Bill speaks a lot more truth in his press conferences than most people want to acknowledge, myself included. He told us over and over last season that Cam was the starter because he gave the team the best chance to win. We scoffed at that, but Bill was the guy who saw Stidham every day -- in practice, in the film room, in the weight room -- and clearly felt he wasn't capable of playing over a sub-par QB. He then told us when Cam was re-signed that there was more to be done to shore up the QB position. And, of course, this summer he told us that a decision hadn't been made about game 1. I didn't believe that, but Bill was speaking the truth.
He also told us not to read into who was playing with whom. I pooh-poohed that, but I was wrong and obviously Bill meant it.
 

Eddie Jurak

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How amazing would it be if, after all of the years of Brady vs. Belichick arguments, Brady went out and won a SB with a new coach and team, and then the following year Belichick goes out and wins a SB with a rookie QB?
NE vs TB has to be the SB matchup of the century now.
 

SMU_Sox

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NE vs TB has to be the SB matchup of the century now.
I feel like people would both love that and hate it too. On the one hand I think the country is sick of the Pats and Brady. On the other even the casual fans would probably be interested in Belichick vs Brady for all the marbles even if one guy is a coach and the other is a player.
 

IdiotKicker

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It's the classic rooting for the asteroid game for a ton of NFL fans, even though I think a lot of people outside of NE warmed up to Brady over the last year. Or maybe it's just my in-laws from Tampa who did.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Hate watchers count as eyeballs too. The NFL hype machine is going to take this game to the next level - a Sunday night in early October (hi MLB playoffs which begin that week!) couldn't be a more perfect setting for so many narratives...

Until then, we get the gift of the media badgering Belichick about that particular game and all of the almost assuredly amazing responses he will give when pressed for his thoughts on playing Tampa.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I don't see the Patriots bringing in a QB with zero knowledge of the system ahead of Hoyer. We saw this with the Garoppolo trade, when they made sure to get Hoyer as a backup. If anyone were to get brought in it's probably Brissett or someone that is eligible for the practice squad.

Double twist is 49ers waiving Garoppolo today and Patriots making him the Week 1 starter.
I agree that they probably won’t part ways with Hoyer due to his institutional knowledge, but that wouldn’t prevent them from bringing in someone else as well. They carried 3 QBs last year too.
 

Captaincoop

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I feel like people would both love that and hate it too. On the one hand I think the country is sick of the Pats and Brady. On the other even the casual fans would probably be interested in Belichick vs Brady for all the marbles even if one guy is a coach and the other is a player.
I would assume that by now, since Brady and Belichick are divorced, just about everyone in America has talked themselves into a strong opinion one way or the other on who the "good guy" is and will be rooting hard for him.
 

Seels

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Probably the most hope I've felt for the team since early 2019. Really wasn't a fan of Cam at all .
 

BlackJack

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Just what we needed, another QB thread...



Excited for the start of the Mac Jones era. I didn't watch a ton of games last year but what I did watch was not a lot of fun.
 

AlNipper49

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Where do you guys think that Cam ends up? The Houston cluster? WFT battling with Fitzpatrick and the Rivera connection?
 

BillMuellerFanClub

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Where do you guys think that Cam ends up? The Houston cluster? WFT battling with Fitzpatrick and the Rivera connection?
Rivera has been extremely outspoken about players' vaccination status and he passed on Cam when he was a FA. I'm guessing that's a long shot.

Provided Cam's thought process is driven by likelihood to start, probably Dallas or Houston. If he is okay with being a back up, which I doubt since NE would have been the best spot for that and I believe he asked for his release after being told he would be backing up Jones, I'd say Baltimore would be the best fit for him. The third option is holding out and staying ready until someone gets hurt.
 

lexrageorge

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I found Cam easy to root for, and I thought he had a chance to be a decent stopgap this season after a real offseason to prep. And I had hopes for the looks he could bring to the team's running game. His signing made all the sense for the CoVid post-Brady season of 2020.

Cam was probably better than he showed last season, but it wasn't enough. Mac needed to impress right away to win the starting job; and he did. Mac's performance in the joint practice against the Giants' starters probably sealed Cam's fate.
 

CaptainLaddie

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Cam is one of my favorite players ever, even in college. He was so goddamn talented, it's just a shame he refused to get jabbed. I believe with all my heart that if he was vaccinated, he'd be starting Week 1.

I'll continue to root for him wherever he ends up.
 

Justthetippett

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Where do you guys think that Cam ends up? The Houston cluster? WFT battling with Fitzpatrick and the Rivera connection?
FOX NFL Sunday. Really, I think he could have a long career in the studio. His shoulder is shot. He was an amazing player when right, but the injuries caught up.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Cam is one of my favorite players ever, even in college. He was so goddamn talented, it's just a shame he refused to get jabbed. I believe with all my heart that if he was vaccinated, he'd be starting Week 1.

I'll continue to root for him wherever he ends up.
Agreed.

For a variety of reasons, some specific to Newton, some specific to the Patriots organization and some specific to New England in general, he wasn't likely to succeed with the Pats but they tried it anyway. I don't know if the vaccination thing was the tipping point or not but I wonder if its really as simple as he is cooked physically. On the other hand, if he wasn't damaged goods, its likely this thread never exists because he is playing elsewhere.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Cam is one of my favorite players ever, even in college. He was so goddamn talented, it's just a shame he refused to get jabbed. I believe with all my heart that if he was vaccinated, he'd be starting Week 1.

I'll continue to root for him wherever he ends up.
I'd sleep better if the narrative was that Mac just flat out beat him out and they think the sky's the limit for him, than Mac won the job by default because the other guy chose not to get vaccinated.
 

tims4wins

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I'd sleep better if the narrative was that Mac just flat out beat him out and they think the sky's the limit for him, than Mac won the job by default because the other guy chose not to get vaccinated.
If that was the case, he wouldn’t have gotten the starting snaps vs the Giants. I can sleep easy.

I mean come on guys. BB is THE hardest coach to earn the trust of. And he is handing the keys of the car to a rookie. If that doesn’t give you goosebumps I don’t know what would. I’m giddy. That BB and JMD have this kind of faith in him is awesome.
 

radsoxfan

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I think much of what Colin says is true, but I never got the “upside” criticism of Mac.

If you think he’s mediocre or bad that’s fine, but to stay someone has limited upside at QB because of average arm strength and OK athletic ability is strange to me.

Some of the best QBs of all time were very average in those traits. Why is Mac a “limited upside” QB?

I can understand it better in the NBA or in other skill positions in the NFL.

But at QB…. good decision making, elite accuracy, OK arm doesn’t really limit upside at all to me. You don’t have to be Rogers or Mahomes to win MVPs
 

streeter88

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I think much of what Colin says is true, but I never got the “upside” criticism of Mac.

If you think he’s mediocre or bad that’s fine, but to stay someone has limited upside at QB because of average arm strength and OK athletic ability is strange to me.

Some of the best QBs of all time were very average in those traits. Why is Mac a “limited upside” QB?

I can understand it better in the NBA or in other skill positions in the NFL.

But at QB…. good decision making, elite accuracy, OK arm doesn’t really limit upside at all to me. You don’t have to be Rogers or Mahomes to win MVPs
And it would seem that arm strength, like any physical trait, is a thing that you can to a point improve. Example TB12.

NYG (and Eagles) joint practices - not mentioned by Cowherd - could be the trigger point that many here have cited.
 

rodderick

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I think much of what Colin says is true, but I never got the “upside” criticism of Mac.

If you think he’s mediocre or bad that’s fine, but to stay someone has limited upside at QB because of average arm strength and OK athletic ability is strange to me.

Some of the best QBs of all time were very average in those traits. Why is Mac a “limited upside” QB?

I can understand it better in the NBA or in other skill positions in the NFL.

But at QB…. good decision making, elite accuracy, OK arm doesn’t really limit upside at all to me. You don’t have to be Rogers or Mahomes to win MVPs
It's dumb criticism especially because even Rodgers had 5 meh seasons between 2015-2019 when the scheme wasn't great and he was a little too content to play hero ball only to put together an MVP season playing on rhythm within the system. The things that make great QBs great haven't changed because of Patrick Mahomes. He's an anomaly.
 

Jungleland

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Cam is one of my favorite players ever, even in college. He was so goddamn talented, it's just a shame he refused to get jabbed. I believe with all my heart that if he was vaccinated, he'd be starting Week 1.

I'll continue to root for him wherever he ends up.
It's interesting, because I think there's a strong chance that for the 3 or so days between the Philly game and the start of the missed practices he had week 1 starter nearly locked up...but at the same time, I think it's also very possible that would have been the wrong decision, and it created the easiest possible path to just ripping the band-aid off. As a fan who really wanted to see him get redemption this year (however unlikely), it was a clear point where I stopped feeling like I was betraying that hope by rooting for Mac to win the job outright.

As far as Cam as a dude and a career, 100% with you. Great player, seemingly great dude that reporter sexism incident aside, seemingly great teammate. Will be sad if he's done done.
 

Traut

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If arm strength and athletic ability were the most critical skills we would have had the Michael Bishop era.
 

simplyeric

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Others who had similar thoughts have supported their claim by citing specific posts.
43904

I was quite consistent, both before and after the draft, that I thought Cam was going to have a come-back season and really show everyone that he still had it.
as recent as yesterday I thought it was Cam until some sort of injury, which for some reason expected sooner than full Cam suckage.

in short, I was 100% wrong.
 

CaptainLaddie

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I'd sleep better if the narrative was that Mac just flat out beat him out and they think the sky's the limit for him, than Mac won the job by default because the other guy chose not to get vaccinated.
I don't disagree. I think Mac outplayed Cam in preseason (barely, but he did), and if Cam was vaccinated, he'd be the starter if only because of experience. But Belichick believes in consistency over everything; we don't know why Butler was benched for the Super Bowl, but if Belichick felt he couldn't trust Butler anymore, then... he can't trust him anymore -- same sort of thing. Frankly, even when Welker was making foot jokes about Rex Ryan -- that was a distraction, and he'd rather bench the guy for a quarter in a playoff game than play him because he's a distraction -- the same sort of thing. If Belichick wakes up on Saturday and he's being told Cam can't play, that fucked up the whole week. I think Belichick would rather go with a more unproven -- but far more consistent guy -- than someone he simply can't trust to be at work every day. There's absolutely value in showing up 100% of the time.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Rivera has been extremely outspoken about players' vaccination status and he passed on Cam when he was a FA. I'm guessing that's a long shot.

Provided Cam's thought process is driven by likelihood to start, probably Dallas or Houston. If he is okay with being a back up, which I doubt since NE would have been the best spot for that and I believe he asked for his release after being told he would be backing up Jones, I'd say Baltimore would be the best fit for him. The third option is holding out and staying ready until someone gets hurt.
The Ravens aren't going to sign Cam. Not right now, that's for sure.

I haven't read this entire thread but is there a thought that the Pats are going to re-sign him after week 1 for salary cap reasons (I would assume at least a portion of his contract would be guaranteed if he was on the roster Week 1).

I know BAL just released a bunch of their vets but it sounds like they're all expected to re-sign with BAL. Just wondering if people think that's an option for Cam.
 
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I'm not sure it was just barely that Mac outplayed Cam. Cam was definitely better than last year, but Cam came pretty close to thoroughly outplaying Cam, all things considered, no?