The New England Patriots have stuck with Cam Newton as their starting quarterback this season despite his consistently erratic play, but it sounds unlikely that he will have another chance to prove himself in 2021.
Jay Glazer of FOX Sports was asked in his weekly mailbag if he has any idea who the Patriots’ quarterback will be next season. He confidently said it is “not going to be Cam Newton.”
“I don’t know if their quarterback of the future is on their roster,” Glazer said. “Jarrett Stidham, I really did think they liked him a lot going into this offseason. Until they got Cam Newton, I thought they really thought they could have had a future with Stidham. If that was the case, they’d probably have him in there right now.”
You can hear Glazer’s full comments at about the 3:46 mark below:
Will Trubisky be back with the Bears next season? Latest on Josh Gordon's return? Lawrence to Jaguars all but a lock now? @JayGlazer answers those questions and more in this #AskGlazer! pic.twitter.com/DyF1BnKn6S
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 21, 2020
Newton signed a veteran minimum deal with the Patriots last offseason that included some incentives. His goal was to prove he is still capable of being a quality NFL starter, and he has not done that. New England didn’t give him many offensive weapons to work with, but Newton has thrown just five touchdown passes all season compared to 10 interceptions. The Patriots were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins.
There is one line of thinking that the Patriots could bring Newton back on another cheap deal next season, but he hasn’t even played well enough to justify that. They’re better off starting from scratch. Like Glazer said, Stidham would already be playing if Bill Belichick felt he was the answer.
Newton has held himself accountable all season, but that only takes a player so far. He was also recently thrown under the bus by one of his teammate’s trainers. It seems like a virtual certainty that the 2020 season will be his only in New England.
