Sports Time Radio

At the start of the NFL off season all the talk was about Tom Brady heading into free agency and what the New England Patriots would do at the quarterback position. This was all the media could talk about and how the Patriots needed to move quickly to find their next quarterback. What did the Patriots do; they stood pat.

As the NFL draft rolled around over and over it was said that the Patriots would need to find a way to move up in the 1st round to draft a quarterback or they would have to get lucky and have one fall to them at #23. So what did the Patriots do with that 23rd pick? That’s right they traded it to the Los Angeles Chargers and moved back to the 37th pick. When that pick came around everyone thought for sure that this would be the spot the Patriots took their quarterback, but instead New England took Kyle Duggar a safety from Lenoir-Rhyne. Then pretty much every time it was the Patriots turn to make a pick someone would say they need to take a quarterback here. You know who didn’t think they needed to take a quarterback with any of their picks? That’s right the Patriots.

Then just as Tom Brady settles in with his new team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and it looks like New England will go with Jarrett Stidham as their starting quarterback New England decides to add a veteran quarterback to their roster.

Just when everyone stopped talking about the Patriots quarterback situation and had switched over to talking about how the might not win the AFC East for the first time in forever New England adds Cam Newton on a incredibly team friendly deal. Newton was all set to make $19 million dollars in the final year of his contract before he was released by the Carolina Panthers. Instead of collecting that Newton signed and incentive laden deal with New England that can pay him a maximum of $7.5 million dollars.

It’s being reported that the Patriots won’t be handing Newton the starting quarterback job, but it’s difficult to believe that a healthy Newton won’t be their starter come Week 1.

Of course that does bring up another question; is Newton healthy? Newton played in just two games last season and judging by his statistics he probably wasn’t healthy enough to be playing in those two games. up until last season Newton had been a warrior playing in all but five games over his first eight seasons.

Towards the end of the 2018 season it looked like Newton’s injuries where starting to catch up to him, but he’s had quite a bit of time off to rest and rehab; so you have to wonder what kind of Newton the Patriots will get.

Before his injuries Newton was the best running quarterback in the NFL and that’s something that New England didn’t have with Brady. Of course Brady knew how to manage the pocket to keep himself out of trouble and to be fair Brady also got a lot more penalty calls from the referees than Newton ever did. Newton averages 5.1 yards per carry when he runs with the football and he’s scored a career 58 rushing touchdowns. Even if he’s not the same runner he once was just the threat of Newton being able to take off with the football adds another dimension for Josh McDaniels and the Patriots offense to show. Not counting last season Newton has ran the football between 90 and 139 times in a season. I don’t expect him to get anywhere close to those numbers with the Patriots. I wouldn’t be surprised if Newton runs the football less than 50 times next season, but teams will have to remember that the possibility of him running will always be there.

Now the signing of Newton in no way means that the Patriots have soured on Stidham as their future quarterback. Remember Newton is only signed for one year in New England at very low money. It’s doubtful that Newton would return to the Patriots on such a low money deal again for the 2021 season and New England doesn’t have a lot of salary cap space to maneuver with. Don’t forget that this is just Stidham’s second season in the NFL; so sitting one more year behind Newton and earning isn’t the worst thing for him.

Now that the Patriots have a quarterback that the mainstream media is happy with do you think they’ll reinsert them as the favorite in the AFC East? Don’t forget that the Buffalo Bills where 10-6 last season and mad the playoffs They also added a top receiver this off season in Stephon Diggs. Do you think the Bills can compete with the Patriots for the AFC East title?

Let me know what you think of the Cam Newton signing by the Patriots. Do you think he was the right choice? Or did you have another quarterback in mind for them.

While we’re talking about the Patriots. The NFL has decided what penalties New England will face for the filming incident during the Cincinnati Bengals/Cleveland Browns game from last season. It’s being reported that the Patriots  be fined $1.1 million dollars and stripped of a 2021 third-round pick.

It was actually Week 14 of last season when the Patriots film crew was in the press box and filmed the Bengals sideline. One of the Bengals staffers noticed and turned the film crew in. New England claimed that the crew was their to film b-roll footage for their online series called “Do Your Job”. The Patriots have admitted that they should have done a better job advising the crew of league protocol and communicating with the Bengals beforehand. It’s prohibited from shooting video of coaches on the sideline and don’t forget that the Patriots have a little thing called Spygate in their history.

Do you think these penalties where fair? If not which side do you fall on? Should New England have been fined more and lost a higher draft pick? Or should they have been fined less and maybe not lost a draft pick? Or do you agree with how the NFL handled this.

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