Cam Newton signs 1 year deal with Patriots
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29380463/qb-cam-newton-reaches-1-year-deal-patriots-sources-say
Well an already interesting NFL season just kicked it up few notches.
Here’s hoping it actually happens.
Will he get the cash directly, or will it be funneled through his father to “build a new church”? :-)
Shea wants me to bring him his very own pony by next Friday. Any suggestions on what breed it should be?
How does it feel constantly sucking farts from your own ass?
You seriously need to shut the fuck up. Where is the new mod to ban you?
You're the expert, why are you asking us?
Undercuts the "Tanking for Trevor" narrative at least a little.
I have no doubt Belichick would gladly give up the chance to draft Trevor, as well as everything he’s ever owned, to win a SB while Brady is still in the league.
Belichek won’t ever win the SB again as HC.
You don't have to like or even respect Belichick but he remains the best coach in American sports-by a wide margin. He continues to win while picking last and the Patriots will continue to do so. Coaching is a huge difference-maker.
The 2008 Pats proved to me that he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. Why?
I think most people remember Brady got hurt in the opener and they missed the playoffs, which is true. However, I think what gets forgotten is 3 teams in the AFC that year won at least 11 games and didn’t win their division: NE, Indy and Baltimore. NE was the odd man out of this group.
Add it all up and you have 11 wins in a loaded AFC with a guy playing QB that *checks notes* wasn’t good enough to start for his own college team. For some context, this was the first time in NFL history (in the modern playoff set-up) a team with 11 wins in a season missed the playoffs. Miami somehow won 12 games that year with a +- of +28 while NE was at +101. Also, in the Super Bowl era, the Lions have won 11 games or more 2 fing times.
TBD how Belichick does with Cam but I think he will be fine.
Not to take away from Belichick, but come on, Matt Cassel was a solid QB and yet was still a major drop off in production.
-He was a highly touted recruit out of high school.
-Yes, he wasn't a starter in college, because he was behind a Heisman winning QB Matt Leinart that beat him out. Yet he still got playing time and lit it up enough to get drafted. How often does a non-starter at QB get drafted? Cassel did, because everyone knew he was solid with the bad luck of being behind a Heisman winner.
-Matt Cassel was clearly a downgrade from Brady in his prime.
2007 Brady was 398 for 578 (68.9%) for 4,806 yards, 8.3 avg, 50 TDs and 8 INTs. 117.2 rating. 16-0, #1 Ranked offense in Yards per game, #1 ranked offense in passing yards per game, #1 Scoring offense in the league.
2008 Cassel was 327 for 516 attempts (63.4%) for 3,693 yards, 7.2 avg, 21 TDs and 11 INTs. 89.4 rating. 11-5, Ranked #12th in passing offense, #8 in scoring offense.
-After Matt Cassel did well filling in for Brady, the Chiefs took him and he made the pro-bowl with the Chiefs. This is not something that garbage QBs earn.
-Matt Cassel made $67 million in the NFL, most of which came after filling in for Brady. Rarely do garbage QBs make that kind of money after having already been in the league for years.
Except for the fact he has a crappy 53-62 career record without Brady as his starting qb.. Not even .500 record and in nearly 7 years of data which is a large sample in NFL coaching data. No doubt he's a very good coach but without a hall of fame quarterback performing for him he was nothing special either. He was 5-12 overall in New England when Brady took over and nearly an incredible 20 games under .500 in his career.
One big overlooked thing with the Cassel team was the Patriots were coming off the greatest regular season in NFL history the year before with the perfect season. That team was beyond dominant as they outscored opponents at an unheard of nearly 20 points per game average w(Brady the previous season). The Cassel led team was completely loaded the next year as they went into the regular season with the highest Las Vegas pre-season win total for a team ever.
Their drop off that Cassel led season was nearly 13 points per game differential less and (all of the point differential was offensively) is one of the bigger season to season drop-offs you'll see from an NFL team. I fail to see how the 11 win season and not making the playoffs is a positive sign for him like many like to boast when the reality was that team was arguably the most talented team ever in pro football. If anything it showed just how important Brady was to his success as that incredible 13 point per game differential drop was entirely on the offensive end of things point wise. Without a QB performing at Hall of Fame levels he once again reverted back to a coach who didn't look to be anymore special then the other coaches across the league just like his previous 5+ seasons in the past.
Based on what? Guys like Saban and Popovich have had just as much success over the same time period while having to do it without always having the greatest player in their sport (e.g. Spurs) anchoring their rosters. Belichick is a great coach (greatest in NFL history IMO) but also was a mediocre coach for a long time without Brady and is also a known cheater. If he can win without Brady, that would be a major feather in the cap. If not, it’s a bit of a chicken-egg scenario between his great coaching and the consistently great QB play he received over 2 decades (IMO).
Saban has had a talent advantage for the majority of his success. Popovich didn't have the greatest player but he did have Tim Duncan for all of his championship years, it's not like he was going down to the gym and grabbing five guys to win a championship with.
"If he can win without Brady, that would be a major feather in the cap."
You're literally replying to a comment about how Belichick won without Brady.
"...was a mediocre coach for a long time without Brady"
The Giants won two SBs in his 6 years as DC, he had the Browns at 11-5 before their last season in Cleveland, which fell apart. Went 29-19 in three years as the Jets' DC and then went to New England. Not sure that mediocre is the adjective I would use.
Oh, ok. I guess that settles the question. Thanks for putting that to rest.
If he's healthy, it's a good move, but he's been beaten up pretty badly the past couple years.
At the very least, he'll be able to give Belichick fashion advice.
Or vice versa.
Having watched him live with the Panthers for a while now, I think the injuries basically take away the special something he had that let him get by the things he doesn’t have. In particular, accuracy downfield. No one has any idea whether his ball will be on target or completely uncatchable, regardless of down, distance, pressure or coverage.
True about the injuries, but he’s still only 31 and he’s had almost 2 full years to rehab and recover.
Clearly he’s not going to be the dual threat beast he was before he got hurt but he’s still got size and a cannon for an arm so if, and yes it’s a big if, he can reinvent himself as a pocket passer like someone like Donovan McNabb did during his career, he could still be a upper level QB.
It’ll be interesting to watch.
I'm pretty sure I called this on this board a couple of months ago
It wasn't difficult to see, especially after all the other QBs went off the market. No idea if Stidham will work out but the Patriots would have been crazy to not give Cam a shot. A 1 year prove-it deal makes a ton of sense, which is exactly what this is.
I hope they run the triple option in some form
Why would you wish that on anyone???
Just for something different in the NFL, it wouldn't be Army style but probably more Baltimore Ravens style. The NFL feels so cookie cutter anymore
All of football feels cookie cutter, and as usual we're last to the party in terms of innovation. Sure we've finally adopted a modern offense with Gattis, but other teams were already doing it 4 to 5 years ago.
Maybe its just me but I'm a bit surprised there aren't more teams out there running the triple option. Yes, its an outdated offense, and no, I don't expect powerhouses like OSU, Alabama or Clemson to ever go back that way minus maybe one or two gimmick packages in the offense. Triple option doesn't exactly attract top talent anymore.
But for your smaller schools who don't have a realistic chance of competing for titles and who only send kids off to the league maybe once every few years or so, I'm surprised its not more prevalent. You can't beat the big boys at their own game, as they'll just out-talent you and run you over. So why not go to the triple option, make them play your game, and make them sweat out an entire 60 minutes of ugly football?
There's a reason people dread playing service academies. Because the offense is so hard to prepare for, and they keep your defense on the field for long, slow, grueling, 8 minute offensive drives. And your high-powered offense full of NFL talent can't do shit about it but sit on the sidelines and watch.
I'm sure there are good reasons I'm not thinking of as to why schools don't migrate back to the triple option. I guess I'm just a bit surprised that not more than a handful of schools use it now. Is it only the service academies now that Ga Tech has changed coaches?
If 1 team had built around Tebow you would see an offense like that in the nfl. That team would have had a stacked defense, a great offensive line and won a lot of games.
I can't believe it'll be 10 years already this fall for his breakout season at Auburn, that seems like yesterday.
Smart move. You have no idea what you have in Jarrett Stidham, and then I think Brian Hoyer is the backup? Woof at that QB room.
If Cam is healthy (a big if, granted) then this is a steal, getting a former MVP on a one year prove-it deal. The AFC East still isn't that good, and while its more open now than its been in the last 15-20 years, the Pats have just as much of a chance as anyone else in the division, simply due to Belichek being there and his ability to outsmart you in nearly every game. He can put Newton in positions for him to succeed. If nothing else, he'll get the most out of whatever is left in Newton's tank.
Good, I want Winovich and Uche to be on winning teams
Don't forget about Big Mike!!
The Lions may sign Kaepernick. If they do, I sure hope he plays like his year with Harbaugh and the 49ers. If he can play like he did several years ago, I think he could be better than our current backup. I was kind of rooting for Henne, since the Chiefs signed him before the last season but he got injured and got put on the IR. I'm not sure if the Chiefs will keep Henne. I thought Henne would become a starter and he did for a while at Miami but was never very successful.
The Lions already signed Chase Daniel to be the backup. They are not signing Kaep or Henne or anyone else, barring injury to Stafford or Daniel.
Not sure who the backup QB is in Baltimore but I think that would be an ideal landing spot. Similar offense to what he ran in San Francisco (I believe Roman is the OC) and obviously John Harbaugh can ask Jim what types of stuff.
Just in case of an injury to Lamar Jackson you wouldn't have to overhaul everything.
RGIII is the established backup in Baltimore.
He will never play over stafford. Stafford has always been more talented at every point of their respective football careers. That doesn’t change now.
This goes for all the players but I was specifically referring to Kap since you said you hope he plays like he did with harbaugh. I took that as you think he would beat stafford out. Which would never happen at any point in their careers.
He's sort of the opposite of Tom Brady in a lot of ways so it'll be interesting to see how the Patriots look next year. He'll definitely be better than anyone else they have lined up, but maximizing Newton's abilities would require some pretty significant scheme changes.
The funniest thing was Richard Sherman's tweet about it. What exactly was he trying to say?