It seems those around the AFC East have taken notice of the New England Patriots recent free-agent signing.
That signing, of course, is none other than 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton. The potential of the 31-year-old quarterback pairing with head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has one player in the AFC East flat out terrified.
“It’s definitely terrifying to think if Cam Newton’s healthy and he’s in Belichick’s offense, you know, in my division, it could be a long year for the other teams, because he’s a game-changer,” New York Jets offensive lineman Greg Van Roten told SirusXM NFL Radio on Saturday.
“He came into the league, you know, he’s a league MVP, brought a team to the Super Bowl — he’s just built differently than a lot of quarterbacks. And he’s a headache to game plan for.”
Former @Panthers teammate and current @nyjets guard @GVR64 knows that Cam Newton in New England could spell trouble for the rest of the AFC East…#Patriots | @Patriots | @CameronNewton pic.twitter.com/mjv74lCoMY
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) July 10, 2020
Van Roten played with Newton for five seasons with the Carolina Panthers, depicting the fact he’s seen the signal-caller up close more than many others have.
“So when he’s healthy, you can stop the run from him, but then you gotta defend the pass. If you can stop the pass, well then you’ve got to account for the run. So, it’s basically, pick one thing and he’ll do the other. And then you couple him with Belichick, who only cares about winning and Cam really wants to prove himself, so it’s definitely a recipe for disaster for the rest of the league if they can figure it out.”
While Van Roten’s assessment certainly could prove true, one thing we were already able to determine is that the Patriots own quite a bit of real estate inside his head.
