The New England Patriots Are Bringing Back Cam Newton (UPDATE)

What would we call the Cam Newton Experience in New England last year? A miss? Passable? A shrug? It feels like a shrug to me.

The team, at 7-9, was not particularly successful, and Newton, 31, was a shell of his former MVP-caliber self. But everyone knew that would be the case coming into the thing, with Newton coming off multiple significant injuries and just trying to re-establish himself as a serviceable NFL quarterback. At at 82.9 rating (28th out of 35 qualified QBs), 177.1 yard/game, 8 touchdowns, 10 picks, and another 12 touchdowns on the ground, did he do that? I think reasonable minds could debate it, but it was enough for the Patriots to decide to keep him for another year:

In a tight cap year, and given the yes-probably-still-upside in Newton, it’s hard to see Newton returning to be the back-up. But Schefter leaves open the possibility:

My bet? As far as the carousel goes, the Patriots are off. They may yet draft a long-term QB to serve under Newton in 2021 (or take over if ready), but he’s going to open the season as the guy. Just what the ole gut says.

UPDATE: Good lord, this is not “close to $14 million”:

At a figure that might wind up closer to $4 million than $14 million, all the more reason to believe the Patriots are still potentially out there in the QB market. Had I known this earlier, my gut would’ve said something very different!

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Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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