COMMENTARY The attribute most essential to Bill Belichick’s enduring brilliance is his endless curiosity about what can be done with 11 players on a football…
COMMENTARY
The attribute most essential to Bill Belichick’s enduring brilliance is his endless curiosity about what can be done with 11 players on a football field. Though he is the oldest coach in the NFL, Belichick also has one of its most agile, malleable minds. He never falls behind trends and often sets them. His only constraints are the sport’s rules and his personnel.
The first hope of any football fan should be that the state of the country amid the novel coronavirus pandemic allows for a season. The second should be that Cam Newton is healthy again, at least an approximation of the player he was at his peak. The marriage of Newton and Belichick, which dropped out of the sky Sunday night, could produce some of the most fascinating, creative offense the sport has seen.
The Patriots signed Newton to a one-year, incentive-heavy contract — a no-risk, immense-reward deal that gives the Patriots a singular talent to replace Tom Brady. The Patriots adore unproven second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham and, from what some familiar with the team’s thinking have said, would have been comfortable with him taking over. But they could not pass on the opportunity to acquire Newton at such a low cost, and chances are the rest of the league will regret that it allowed it to happen.
Poor health is the only reason Newton was available. He won the 2015 MVP award, led the Carolina Panthers to an NFC Championship and became the best player in franchise history. He delivered on the promise he showed when the Panthers made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2011. He’s still just 31. He should be a franchise cornerstone, not a late-June bargain-bin find.
But Newton’s health has undermined him. He had been remarkably durable given his physical style, but the toll of those hits surfaced in recent seasons. He underwent major shoulder surgery after the 2018 season and played in just two games last season after suffering Lisfranc injury, which required surgery in December.
No matter where Newton landed, the hope was those operations and nearly a year of rest would restore Newton. He is one of the most thrilling players the league has produced. Now that he is with the Patriots, he becomes even more fascinating.
