A six-time Super Bowl champion isn’t a better fit with the Patriots than one with zero rings? In this case, yes.
ESPN’s Ryan Clark recently said that New England is better off with Cam Newton than Tom Brady. While that statement might not make much sense because we’re talking about the most accomplished quarterback ever, it will when you realize the full context of what he said.
“This collection of players — Jakobi Meyers, Damiere Byrd, N’Keal Harry — is better with Cam Newton at quarterback, period,” the ESPN analyst said. “They are. He does more with this team than Tom Brady ever could. That’s not a knock on their careers. That is not in any way to negate Tom Brady’s greatness. They needed Cam Newton. This was a match made in heaven, the same way Cam Newton said it was. It was beautiful to watch…”
Clark is right when he mentions that Newton is a better fit for THIS Patriots team over Brady.
Let’s focus on N’Keal Harry. Meyers and Byrd would be a bonus if they ended up working out for the Patriots but Harry NEEDS to work out for them because he was a first-round pick and they won’t win when Julian Edelman is catching 29 passes a game. Brady didn’t really work well with Harry last season because Brady knew the playbook front and back while Harry was just learning it so there wasn’t a great partnership there. When you fast forward to a year later, you’ve got Newton and Harry together–and they are pretty much learning the playbook at the same time.
It’s important to look back at when Cam Newton was at his best when he won the MVP in 2015 and took the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl. Do you remember who his top wide receivers were? Of course you don’t because it was ‘The Cam Newton Show’. He has a very similar supporting cast this season. He has one experienced wide receiver and a lot of young guys learning the playbook with him simultaneously.
In other words, Brady is someone that works well when you give him veteran players that know the offense but Newton is a quarterback that doesn’t have a hard time taking lemons and making lemonade.
(Photo: John Froschauer – AP Photo)