Cam Newton was released by the Patriots on Tuesday and now as a free agent is free to sign with any team in the league.
But, according to Jeff Darlington of ESPN, that may not be easy.
“We should point out a couple of things here. The first of which, Cam Newton was on the open market before he joined the Patriots for three months," he said. "There wasn’t much interest in him then. So, you’ve got to figure at this point teams would only be looking at him as a potential backup quarterback option.
“Now, here is where Bill Belichick is not necessarily telling you everything about the vaccination status and how it can impact a player. With a backup quarterback who is unvaccinated, if he is say in the quarterback room with the starter, and the starter is vaccinated, and the starter comes down with COVID, tests positive, and he is now a close contact with the backup quarterback who is unvaccinated, that backup is now out for five days no matter what.
“So, if you’re in the middle of the season, Cam Newton is unvaccinated in your quarterback room and you need to lean on him as the backup [because] the starter gets COVID, it’s now pointless. Because he’s a close contact and he’s out for five days.
“It’s complicated. I understand that. It’s not necessarily about if you’re vaccinated or not vaccinated. It’s about the protocols that the NFL has in place and how that impacts a backup quarterback.”
Belichick said Tuesday Newton's vaccination status had nothing to do with him being released.
