The Patriots quarterback job has been pretty much the biggest talking point in Boston sports since Tom Brady left town for Tampa Bay last March.
Fourteen months into the discussion, there’s no guarantee New England is any closer to the long-term answer at the most important position in all of sports.
Everyone is well aware of what’s transpired over the last year-plus, but a lightning-quick recap never hurts.
Brady won the Super Bowl with the Bucs.
Second-year former fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham got his 15 minutes of fame last spring as the short-term talk of the town and would-be Brady heir. He was not.
Cam Newton was a late-summer, bargain-basement arrival in Foxborough before starting all but one game for Bill Belichick’s team, throwing just eight touchdown passes for a seven-win team that missed the postseason.
Owner Robert Kraft declared that his team’s quarterback spot needed to be “solidified” moving forward and New England soon thereafter took Alabama star Mac Jones with the No. 15 overall pick in last month’s draft, the first-ever first-round quarterback for Belichick and first such selection for the Patriots since Drew Bledsoe at No. 1 overall in 1993.
Let the competition begin!
After all, New England has always been considered a true meritocracy, right?
It’s not how you got here, but what you do once you get to work at Gillette Stadium that matters.
The best players play regardless of contract, draft status or preconceived loyalties. At least that’s what we’ve been told sold and over the years.
This was leaping off discussion point and debate that broke out organically in the most recent recording of WEEI’s Off Day podcast, with NFL Media’s Mike Giardi joining Ryan Hannable and me for a somewhat spirited offseason, dead-of-May back-and-forth.
Certainly there are somewhat worthy considerations here.
Newton did arrive barely a month before training camp in the midst of a pandemic that greatly limited his ability to prepare for the season. There were no preseason games, either.
Newton also had to deal with a stint of COVID, causing him to miss a game and, the way he tells it, never really catch back up to his teammates in the offense.
And maybe more importantly, Newton had extremely limited tools to work with in the passing game. Julian Edelman was a bit player before missing nearly three-quarters of the season to a knee injury that subsequently forced his retirement. The tight end position was a dismal non-factor. The rest of the receiving corps was mediocre (Jakobi Meyers!) at best.
But Newton was also not good. His accuracy, decision-making and timeliness were awful at times. He was part of problem in the passing game, not simply a helpless victim of the circumstances within it.
Still, ESPN recently reported that Belichick remains “bullish” on Newton and his chances to “likely” be the Patriots starting quarterback.
Why?
Shouldn’t Jones, Stidham and even newly re-signed 2020 third-string journeyman backup Brian Hoyer be given every chance to openly compete for the starting job this spring and summer?
If anything, Jones should be the one with the leg up on the competition. He is, after all, the future of the franchise for better or worse. He was drafted higher than all but three Patriots at any spot over the last two-plus decades.
If there were going to be any preconceived advantages to sway what should otherwise be an open competition in a supposed meritocracy, Jones should get the benefit of the doubt. He, not Newton, is where the biggest investment lies. He, not Newton, is the Patriots best chance to turn things around quickly with a rebuilt roster clearly focused on running the football and playing good defense this coming fall.
Not only do Belichick and the Patriots not “owe” anything to Newton this offseason and fall, they actually owe it to every player on the roster, every fan returning to the post-pandemic seats and every member of Patriot Nation to give Jones (and even Stidham) every opportunity to win the starting job.
That would be what’s in the best interests of the football team.
The next three-plus months should be an open-minded, wide-open quarterback competition in New England. May the best man win!
Belichick doesn’t owe Newton anything. Nor should he.