The New England Patriots, on Tuesday’s NFL cut day, announced the release of former MVP quarterback Cam Newton, with University of Alabama product Mac Jones expected to take the starting job for one of the league’s flashiest franchises.
Newton has seen his game slip since the early to mid 2010’s, when he entered the league with the Carolina Panthers fresh off a Heisman Trophy at Auburn, yet his release by coach Bill Belichick was seen as a mild surprise across the league’s circles, with a number of teams, notably the Dallas Cowboys, expressing early interest in signing Newton.
In one season in New England, Newton was 7-8 as the starter, as the Patriots, in the first year after the release of Tom Brady, slumped to a 7-9 record, with a roster did hard by COVID-19 opt-outs.
This preseason, Newton had started all three games for the Patriots, but New England brass continued to be impressed by the confidence and poise shown by Jones, the former national championship quarterback from the Crimson Tide. Perhaps adding to the likelihood of a move towards Jones was Newton missing a game after testing positive for COVID-19, and the possibility, due to his unvaccinated status, of him missing more games in the regular season. He had missed five days of practice after what was deemed a “misunderstanding” of COVID-19 protocols, as the team prepared for the preseason finale this past Sunday at the New York Giants.
Photo credit – Keith Allison / Wikimedia Commons / Landover, MD
