Patriots just got dangerous with Newton signing
Former NFL MVP with Panthers could make Brady’s former team a Super Bowl threat again
Since mid-March it had appeared there was absolutely no chance of the New England Patriots playing in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Tom Brady’s new Florida football home.
Then they signed Cam Newton on Sunday, and unless you have lots of money or the wager is a small one, do you really want to bet against them?
Not this gambler.
They still may be no better than the fourth- or fifth-best team in the AFC, but if the 31-year old former Carolina Panther is healthy, teamed with coach Bill Belichick and offensive co-ordinator Josh McDaniels, he can give the Patriots a fighting shot to make it to their 10th Super Bowl game in 19 years.
It probably goes without saying they didn’t have that with Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer at QB this season.
Newton, who was limited to two games last season but insists shoulder and foot problems that no doubt played a role in his 0-8 record over his past eight starts are behind him, agreed to a oneyear deal that will pay him a paltry (for NFL quarterbacks) US$7.5 million (which includes incentives).
Obviously sold on a big rebound are MGM bookmakers, who have listed him as the ninth-best favourite to win the league’s MVP award, tied with Aaron Rodgers and Kyler Murray at +2,500.
Newton suddenly also has the second-shortest odds to win comeback player of the year, behind only Ben Roethlisberger, who was also limited to two games last season.
“I’m excited as I don’t know what right now!!” Newton wrote on Instagram.
▪ Netflix announced Monday it is making a black-and-white six-part series out of Colin Kaepernick’s high-school life. According to a Variety report, the collaboration with the former 49ers star “will provide a look at Kaepernick’s early life as a Black child growing up with a white adopted family and his journey to become a great quarterback while defining his identity” and that the series also will “explore what led him to become a civil rights advocate.”
▪ The NFLPA is asking player agents to impress upon their clients the importance of talking to their doctors about the risks of playing through a pandemic. ▪ A former first-round pick (2014) of the Cleveland Browns who tried to salvage his career during stints with the Hamilton
Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes, Johnny Manziel says his football playing days are probably “in the past.” Now 27, the Heisman Trophy winning QB admitted to the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal that he didn’t put in the time needed to be a great player, and his heart wasn’t in the game when he was in the NFL or Canada. Manziel last played for the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football in 2019. “Thank God I did get a chance to be humbled,” he said, “because when you think you’re at the top of the world, it’s a dangerous place.”
▪ 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman was outraged over the fact Newton had to sign with the Pats for peanuts. “How many former league MVPs have had to sign for min? (Asking for a friend)” he wrote on Twitter. “Just ridiculous. A transcendent talent and less talented QBs are getting 15/16 (million) a year. Disgusting.”