The New England Patriots offense was not good in 2020. And Cam Newton was at the center of that offense. To a degree, those two sentences don’t jibe with the headline above.
But if the Patriots have hope of improving in free agency, which opens Wednesday, they need a quarterback. They need a plan, which they can relay to pending free agents. And given what’s available, Newton is the best possible option — for now.
The Patriots signed him to a one-year deal worth up to $14 million, per multiple reports, but because of incentive structure, the contract is unlikely to yield anywhere near that much in earnings for Newton, per The Athletic. So New England played it safe by re-signing Newton on a team-friendly deal. Even though he played some of his worst football in 2020, the Patriots can use Newton as a frontman.
Bill Belichick, who is expected to be uncharacteristically aggressive in free agency with roughly $60 million in cap space, likely will pitch something along these lines …
