When Tom Brady left New England in March, it felt – for many Patriots fans – as if their parents got divorced.
Well, Bill Belichick has a new girlfriend.
“We were all distraught and disappointed and we didn’t want to see Brady go,” former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins said on The Zach Gelb Show. “We felt like, ‘How could they not get this done? How is he going somewhere else?’ Then when he left, you’re trying to figure out how you’re going to deal with it. We’re all looking at [Jarrett]
Stidham like a young guy; what can he do? And then when you get a guy like Cam, you’re thinking, ‘Okay, if he can be healthy, at least that puts us back in the conversation of being a team that’s competitive and a playoff team.’ I think that’s what we feel as Patriots fans. We’ll never be able to overcome the loss of Brady, but I think Cam helps us a little bit.”
A little bit? It’s possible that Newton, a former NFL MVP, helps the Patriots a lot a bit. The No. 1 overall pick in 2011, Newton spent nine seasons in Carolina, during which he was one of the most dynamic playmakers in the league. He has battled various injuries in recent years, but his upside when healthy is undeniable.
“I wanted Cam bad because I didn’t feel very confident in the team with Stidham as a quarterback,” Wiggins said. “He’s a young, fourth-round draft pick who is probably going to have a lot of growing pains, and things are going to be difficult for him. We’re used to a different thing in New England. We’re used to every year basically competing for the AFC championship and a Super Bowl. When they hadn’t made a move on Cam, you didn’t know what people were doing. Maybe his price tag might have been a little bit higher – well, clearly it was higher than what everybody wanted to give him. Once he was willing to come down from that, then it was about where can he go where he has a legitimate chance to show, ’Hey, I can have one great year and get back out there and make that type of money?’ New England was a perfect fit. I think it was perfect for him.”
Still, many analysts, including Joe Theismann, believe the Patriots remain the second-best team in the division and that the Buffalo Bills will win the AFC East for the first time since 1995.
Wiggins is not one of those analysts.
“Now that you have Cam Newton, I like the Patriots,” he said. “The Bills are going to be a tough out, but . . . if Cam’s healthy, you have the best quarterback in the AFC East. I think when you look at a lot of these games, especially in the division, it’s going to come down to the play of the quarterback. When you have the best quarterback, that’s why I feel like the Patriots should be able to win the AFC East.”