For the bulk of the offseason, the Patriots weren’t poised to be a must-see team in the 2020 campaign.
Sure, there was some intrigue over how New England would fare without Tom Brady. But there really wasn’t a whole lot of excitement surrounding Bill Belichick’s group throughout the spring months, as they were shaping up to be a middle-of-the-road team at best.
Well, that’s no longer the narrative.
After the dust largely settled in free agency across the league, the Patriots created a whirlwind by signing Cam Newton, who waited roughly three months for his next opportunity after being released by the Carolina Panthers. Colin Cowherd, like so many others, is eager to see how Newton will fit in Foxboro, and it appears to be the main reason why he has the Patriots tabbed as the second-most interesting team to watch in 2020.
“Cam and Belichick, totally different personalities, totally different styles,” Cowherd said Tuesday on FOX Sports 1’s “The Herd.” “We’ve never seen Belichick — his entire career, pocket quarterbacks. Here we go. Here we go. I don’t know what it’s going to look like. Cam doesn’t have a ton of weapons. My guess is run-centric and they’re going to go back to Cam Years 1, 2, 3, 4. ‘Cam, you’re going to take some shots. We’re going to look like Baltimore. We may even run the ball more than Baltimore.’ I think that’s what they’re going to do. This is Cam, Year 3.”
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9. Denver Broncos
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4. Cleveland Browns
3. Miami Dolphins
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1. @ColinCowherd counts down his 10 Most Interesting NFL teams for the 2020 season: pic.twitter.com/q7FAgcUsCv— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 14, 2020
For those wondering, the top spot on Cowherd’s list was taken by Newton’s predecessor and his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cowherd has every reason to wonder if Belichick and Newton will be able to fit. In fact, the 2015 NFL MVP himself had those same thoughts upon learning the Patriots were interested in him.
