Former Auburn football quarterback, National Championship winner, and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton is no longer a starting quarterback in the NFL. After Bill Belichick described Newton as having a successful offseason, he led us to believe he would be the starter for the Pats, at least at the start of the 2021 season.
However, things took a turn yesterday when New England announced they would be releasing Newton to free agency and named former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones as the starter. Though Jones went later than expected in the draft and many questioned his legitimacy due to his supporting cast in Tuscaloosa, the rookie will have the ball in his hands during game one.
Belichick insists that Newton’s vaccination status had nothing to do with the decision, but the quarterback missed days of practice last week due to being unvaccinated and COVID-19 protocols. According to CBS, Pats’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is confident in Jones moving forward:
"“When you look at the whole body of work since he’s gotten here, he’s been well-prepared each day to come in and do the things we ask our players to do,” McDaniels said of Jones, via Mike Giardi of NFL Network. ” … He’s improved. He’s generally taken care of the football.”"
The unexpected free agency of Cam Newton sparked all kinds of speculation and reactions on Twitter, but one of those scenarios, in particular, was not received well by the football fans of the world:
The ultimate middle finger from #Tommy to Belichick would be for Brady to get the Bucs to sign Cam Newton as the backup QB in Tampa.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 1, 2021
Pro Football Talk claims that the biggest “middle finger” to Belichick would be for Newton to follow Tom Brady to Tampa and sign on as the Bucs’ backup QB. I don’t know who gave them that idea, but I certainly don’t agree with it. Why would anyone root for Cam to be a backup QB? Why would Bill Belichick care at all if he’s a backup QB in Tampa? What would Tom Brady be proving to the world by making Newton his backup?
Many questions are to be answered by PFT. From where we at Fly War Eagle see it, Auburn football legend Cam Newton’s career could very well continue with another team. I can assure the folks at PFT Newton cares a lot more about playing football than helping Tom Brady give a symbolic middle finger to Bill.