Getty Bill Belichick
There are a lot of people praising Bill Belichick for his decision to cut Cam Newton and start rookie Mac Jones, but at least 2 former players aren’t singing their ex-coach’s praises.
Former Patriot and 2-time Super Bowl champion Asante Samuel has been a consistent critic of Belichick over the years. When Newton was released, another former Belichick player and current ESPN analyst Louis Riddick took to Twitter and called the Hoodie “cold-blooded”
Asante replied and added some of his own seasoning. Samuel said Belichick is “just another coach” without Brady.
Samuel appeared on ESPN First Take to explain his stance. He clarified his tweet was not about Newton being released, but more to say, this sort of decision is classic Belichick.
That is obviously a major statement, but it is a narrative that is gaining steam since Brady went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a Super Bowl last season.
On the other hand, Samuel’s attempts to knock Belichick off a pedestal is not a new thing. Back in 2020, Samuel said this via Twitter,
Fun Fact: I made Belichick understand the cornerback position better and how to make plays in any coverage. He never agreed with the way I played but now he teaches it.
Samuel doesn’t want it to appear as though he has bad blood toward his former coach, though it seems like he does. Still, he added another tweet last year to explain what appears to be a complicated and perhaps mutually respectful relationship between the two men.
Fun Fact: When I was in Atlanta getting ready to play the Patriots before the game me, Tom, and Bill huddled up and Belichick immediately start talking s### to me. That’s how we rock!
Samuel Isn’t the Only Ex-Patriots Player to Criticize Belichick after the Decision
Former Patriot and current WEEI personality Jermaine Wiggins called Belichick’s decision a “huge mistake.”
On a video posted by NBC Sports Boston, Wiggins said:
I think it’s a huge mistake and it has the potential to be really ugly. The fact that you’re handing the keys to your organization to a rookie — on a team that we all expected, based on what they did in the offseason, has got to be a playoff caliber football team. Every rookie quarterback is going to deal with growing pains, is going to deal with, you know what, now I’m in the NFL, it’s no longer preseason. They’re the disguising coverages, they’re blitzing, they’re doing all types of things that I’ve never seen before. And it’s just gonna take time for Mac to see certain things. And guess what? The time that it might take might be the difference between wins and losses, and the pressure that you’re putting on this kid, on a team that is expected to make the postseason based on the players that they have in that locker room. If he comes out, he plays bad, you don’t think all eyes are gonna be on him in the media? And there might be some guys in that locker room going, well, did you make the right decision? Did we rush this kid in too early to play? That’s the only issue that I have when you’re dealing with a rookie quarterback and basically saying we have a playoff team. You don’t know how that’s gonna affect them if things tend to go wrong or if there tend to be issues with (what) most rookie quarterbacks to deal with.
Wiggins had been a huge Newton supporter last year and during the offseason as the veteran battled Jones for the starting spot. His response comes as no surprise, but his comments have some validity.
Only time will tell if he is correct, or if Belichick’s decision to cut Newton leads to disaster.
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