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Not everyone is excited about Cam Newton and the New England Patriots‘ future. Former Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets quarterback and current NFL analyst Boomer Esiason has very low expectations for the upcoming season.
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Boomer Esiason Doesn’t See Cam Newton and the Patriots as a Good Match
Esiason has never shied away from bold and/or controversial statements. He recently appeared on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show.” Esiason said he wasn’t expecting much from the Patriots. On the show, he offered this bleak outlook:
The bottom line is (Jarrett) Stidham got hurt, Cam got in there and they are paying him no money whatsoever. When you see him up close and personal, he is an unbelievable athlete. Your breath actually gets taken away because he is so good. I still think this is not a great match. Although, I will say he’s got a great coaching staff. The coaching staff will put him in a situation and call the plays that I believe are going to get the best out of him. I don’t think he’s that accurate on third down. I think if he turns the football over that is when a change could come. But, there’s no question Josh McDaniels will have plays in the playbook that they didn’t have with Tom Brady just simply because Cam is a better athlete. That doesn’t mean he’s a better quarterback, it just means he’s a different type of quarterback.
Apparently, Esiason is under the impression that Newton only won the job because Stidham got hurt, and it had nothing to do with the seven interceptions he threw during training camp. It’s somewhat understandable to question how well Newton will perform with a new team and offense, but what’s with all of the overall doubt in the team on a whole?
Esiason continued:
I think it is one of the more fascinating stories in the league – the Patriots basically with 19 players missing from last year’s squad are basically going through a major rebuild. We all know it. Between the opt-outs, between the free agency (losses), Rob Gronkowski coming back to play with Tom Brady down in Tampa, this is going to be one interesting year for Coach Belichick.
There is no questioning how great of a coach Belichick has been over the course of his illustrious career, and the amount of turnover is real. That said, the team still returns almost its entire secondary besides Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon, but they may have upgraded both positions with the addition of rookie Kyle Dugger and free-agent signee Adrian Phillips. Jermaine Elluemenor seems to be settling in at right tackle, though it’s probably impractical to expect him to be as solid as Marcus Cannon was for the team on that side of the line.
Is Boomer Esiason Underselling Cam Newton?
Perhaps the biggest misconception is that a 31-year-old Newton won’t be better than a 43-year-old Brady, and I’d be willing to be the Patriots will have the more effective player under center.
Still, Esiason continued the low-ball prediction for the Patriots’ record with this specific take on their record and playoff chances.
“I think a .500 record is definitely attainable, especially in the division that they are in. Miami is still rebuilding. The Jets, they are still rebuilding. Miami’s quarterback is not ready to get started yet, although Fitz (Ryan Fitzpatrick) could give everybody headaches like we’ve seen before, but he also could turn the ball over.
There are several ways to respond, but it’s probably better to allow a recent Newton Instagram post to serve as the answer.
The 2020 season begins Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.