By Sean Gannon

            After months of being a free agent Cam Newton has finally found a home in New England. The Patriots lose one MVP but they gain another. While, I will be the first to say, I haven’t loved Cam Newtons play since the Superbowl loss to the Broncos, he has been hampered by injuries. Two shoulder surgeries and a lisfranc fracture in the foot, which ended his 2019 campaign, Newton is coming into the 2020 season hungrier than ever. He signed a one-year 7.5 million dollars, sounds good right? Not really. The only guaranteed money he has for sure is 550 thousand dollars, the remaining parts to the contract are all incentive based, including per-game roster bonuses as insurance for the Patriots should he not be able to play. Cam Newton is putting all his eggs in the basket and betting solely on himself.

This is not a bad time to be betting on yourself if your Cam Newton, especially if you get the chance to wear a Patriots outfit and learn from arguably the greatest head coach in NFL history. This entire offseason Cam has been preparing both mentally and physically for the 2020 season, working out constantly and letting it be known all over social media. Quite honestly, he looks really healthy with full mobility back in both his foot and his shoulder. A healthy Cam Newton is a dangerous Cam Newton. In his last fully healthy season, the Panthers were 11-5 with a playoff berth, Newton had thrown for 3,302 yards, 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. While the numbers aren’t amazing, he won games, and winning is most important in the NFL.

While the Patriots receiving core may not be the most threatening in the league, Julian Edelman is the perfect blanket receiver for Newton. Mohamed Sanu should find rhythm in a full offseason with the Patriots to understand the playbook more and I have high hopes for N’Keal Harry to live up to the first-round expectations. Newton has tons of athletic ability and enough talent around him to find success with the Patriots the way he had with the Panthers. It will be harder for them to repeat last year, but with Cam Newton and Bill Belichick it wouldn’t surprise me if they somehow come out on top in the AFC East and surprise everyone. Hopefully Cam silences the haters in 2020 and shows why he is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league.