FOXBOROUGH, MA – AUGUST 22: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers warms up prior to the start of the preseason game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on August 22, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
It’s been easy to say Cam Newton and Bill Belichick would not mesh well, but offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is actually the biggest reason Newton won’t be a Patriot.
Cam Newton may or may not be wiling to sign somewhere as a backup, but the fact he is still available with no real steam toward him signing anywhere is peculiar. The New England Patriots linger as a possible landing spot, but they have not yet wavered from Jarrett Stidham as Tom Brady’s immediate successor.
Newton’s personality makes it easy to deem him as a bad fit with Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick. There’s little or no room for personality or individual expression in “The Patriot Way”, which may be a reason Tom Brady created an exit ramp and then took it this offseason.
Shy of the idea he’ll succeed Belichick at some point, it seems like a matter of when not if offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will leave the Patriots for a head coaching job. He gets interviewed for openings every year, and one of his stops in the carousel after last season was the Carolina Panthers as they looked to permanently replace Ron Rivera.
Turns out McDaniels may be the driving force for New England’s patent lack of interest in Newton. According to Joe Person of The Athletic, McDaniels wasn’t “necessarily high” on Newton when he interviewed with the Panthers.
Newton only played two games last season due to a foot injury, and a right shoulder issue effected him substantially in the second half of 2018 before he was finally shut down. So his lingering availability, along with the Panthers waiting to cut him, is rooted in teams not being able to have him in their building for a physical due to COVID-19.
Belichick, in his own way, hasn’t necessarily closed the door on signing another quarterback at some point.
“You never know what’s going to happen down the road, but we feel like we have four good players there.”
That doesn’t mean Newton is at the top of New England’s list should something happen to Stidham. But if Belichick ever entertains the idea of signing Newton, his offensive coordinator will apparently be a notable dissenting opinion.