Boston sports radio mostly criticizes Patriots for re-signing Cam Newton
"I think about 99.5 percent of New England is upset with this news today."
The Patriots’ decision to bring Cam Newton back was largely met by negative reactions from Boston sports talk radio hosts.
On 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Mazz,” the show’s hosts didn’t necessarily criticize Newton. Instead, they took aim at Bill Belichick and the Patriots for what they think their plan is this offseason.
“The story is that the Patriots have put themselves in a position where with holes all over their roster and tremendous needs, the best they could do is bring a washed-up quarterback and put him on the roster in an attempt to lure free agents. That is the story,” Tony Massarotti said. “I don’t know if Cam Newton’s going to start for this team or not. I hope not. I doubt it, honestly. I have to believe that sometime around the draft, someone else will shake free. Even if it’s Gardner Minshew, he’s better than Newton. So, to me, it’s not that Cam Newton’s going to be the quarterback in 2021. I’m not making that judgment today. Maybe he is. I don’t know.
“But the judgment I am making today is ‘Wow, you’re a storied franchise coming off of the most dominant dynasty in the history of sports and this is what you’re reduced to?’ This is what ‘leverage’ you have? You have no leverage. You’ve never had leverage since Brady left. You’re in a position where you are desperate and you have no plan and you’re only shot is to bring up a washed-up has-been in hopes of signing free agents. That is the story.”
Massarotti’s co-host, Michael Felger, also believes that the Patriots signed Newton as a way to gain “leverage,” too. However, he doesn’t think it’s to help the team bring in free agents. Rather, he thinks that the Patriots did this to help themselves in any trade talks for a quarterback.
“They’re bringing in Newton to have some semblance of leverage, at least in their own mind,” Felger said. “In other words, they want [Jimmy] Garoppolo but the 49ers are saying ‘No, high second-round pick or we’ll take No. 15 but that’s it.’ The 49ers have not made Garoppolo available or they’re playing hardball. The 49ers are saying right now to the Patriots ‘You don’t have anything. You need us.’ Now the Patriots can say ‘No, we’ve got a quarterback. We’ve got a quarterback. You’ve got to come to our terms.’ So, they’re trying to create this leverage, and they don’t have it. It’s a myth.”
Felger also took a shot at the Patriots for not having a plan at quarterback, citing that they signed Newton to this deal in March as opposed to earlier.
“The thing is, if they really wanted the guy, if they really wanted Cam Newton back, if it was a priority for them, why did they do on the last business day before free agency and the tampering period begins?” Felger said. “You know what I mean? They could’ve given him an extension any time during last year, any time after last year, any time within the last two months. But here we are, the last business day before the tampering period being on Monday, which is really the beginning of free agency, and now you sign him. Why? Because you have nothing else.
“This is what they’re left with because they don’t want to have to pay the freight of having a real quarterback.”
On 98.5’s midday show, “Zolak and Bertrand,” former Patriots quarterback and current Patriots radio analyst Scott Zolak shared how upset he was about the Newton signing. Zolak believed that the Patriots bringing back offensive tackle Trent Brown would mean that the team wouldn’t bring Newton back.
“We got excited on Monday about the signing of an offensive tackle, because I thought it was an indicator that we were going to throw the ball and go get a quarterback and protect him,” Zolak said. “We got a quarterback on Friday. The weather’s been crappy here. It’s been nasty out, it’s been cold, it’s been icy. Today’s the nicest day of the year. It’s Friday. I woke up, I felt great…I look good and ready to go every morning because I feel fresh. Laying down in bed, doing what I’m supposed to do. I’m going to go on a bender tonight.
“I don’t like the signing. I’m not happy about the signing. I think about 99.5 percent of New England is upset with this news today. I don’t know any positive spin on this. But you have to understand why this is done, and I’m going to try to.”
Zolak also complained about the signing in several tweets, comparing it to the episode of “The Office” when Toby (a character that wasn’t popular among the other show’s characters) returned in one tweet.
Despite voicing his displeasure over Newton’s signing on the air and online, Zolak did find a couple of positives. He believes that with Newton’s contract being relatively small, it still gives the Patriots options not just to fill out the rest of the roster, but to also get another quarterback.
“We always said, what’s the caveat? What has to be attached to it?” Zolak asked his co-host, Rob Hardy.
“Another player,” Hardy replied.
“OK, thank you,” Zolak said. “At what? Not tight end or receiver to make this guy better. I don’t think this guy can get any better.”
“At quarterback,” Hardy said.
On WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni, Fauria,” there was actually some disagreement among the show’s hosts. Lou Merloni couldn’t believe that the Patriots would bring Newton back after last season.
“I was in shock,” Merloni said. “I was absolutely in shock that they would bring this guy back this year. That they would bring this guy back, period. My first thought was, “Man, Bill’s losing it. Why in God’s name are you bringing this guy back?'”
However, former Patriots tight end and co-host Christian Fauria believes the signing means nothing.
“If you wanted Cam Newton back, I’m sorry. If you hated him and you’re pissed off and you’re worried this was what they’re going to do, I’m here to tell you that this doesn’t mean crap,” Fauria said. “That this doesn’t mean squat. This doesn’t mean he’ll be your starter. This doesn’t mean he is legit going to be your opening day starter. It doesn’t mean anything. Don’t worry about it. He may not even be on the team.”
“This is just to put together an insurance policy for the team,” Glenn Ordway said in agreement with Fauria. “You probably have Cam Newton, he doesn’t want to wait 86 nights. He’s probably all over the Patriots.”
“This is basically [the Patriots] saying ‘We’re going to calm Cam down,” Ordway later added. “We have other ideas here with Garoppolo and other deals here and who knows, maybe draft day we’ve got a guy we’re keyed on if we can possibly get him.’ This is just to calm him down. Bill Belichick knows the players love this guy.”
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