The New England Patriots didn’t rush to sign quarterback Cam Newton. To the contrary, the quarterback sat on the free agent market for a surprisingly long period of time (almost 15 weeks) until Bill Belichick signed Newton on June 28.
They agreed upon a one-year deal worth a base of $1.05 million that could reach $7.5 million through incentives. On Friday, Belichick spoke to the media for the first time since the signing.
“Things worked out. We spent quite a bit of time with Cam, and he spent quite a bit of time with us. There was mutual interest,” Belichick said on a videoconference call. “A number of different people and a number of different conversations — we were just trying to see how the fit would be. I know it was very positive on our end, and I’m glad it worked out.”
In past years, even Belichick would have admitted that his quarterback position was not truly open for competition. Tom Brady had the job. But this year, the position is genuinely like every other job on the roster: Up for grabs. With Brady heading to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason in free agency, Newton will compete against Jarrett Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round pick, and Brian Hoyer, a journeyman with multiple years of experience in New England’s offense.
“We’ll give everyone an opportunity, and see what happens,” Belichick said.
With the pandemic abbreviating that competition — the NFL cancelled organized team actives, minicamp and preseason while delaying training camp — the Patriots will likely have a hard time teaching the playbook in such a short span. To make things trickier, the playbook was built to highlight Brady’s strengths. Though Newton is likely the favorite to start in Week 1, Belichick should hold to his word on allowing the competition to play out. So New England may have a hard time customizing their playbook because they won’t know which quarterback will be running the plays. Belichick, however, brushed off the idea that this might be a challenge.
“You set up a general structure that you implement,” he said. “Everyone needs to learn certain fundamentals, certain basics. And every player — whether he’s played two years, whether he’s played 20 years — there’s still a basic progression to training camp at that player’s position. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s where we’re going to start. And that’s, in my opinion, what needs to be done, regardless of who the player is or the position he plays, whether he’s been here 10 years or whether this is his first year.”
