Bedard: Cam Newton's contract could be a double-edged sword for the Patriots

Ask around the league and many execs and coaches will tell you one of the underrated factors in the Patriots' double dynasties was Tom Brady never truly got paid what he was worth.

He was far from a Patrick Mahomes or an Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson — the most recent quarterbacks to become the highest-paid players in the league, which has or will have a negative trickle-down effect on the roster. After all, there is a hard salary cap and it is real — now or later your team will pay a price.

So having Brady, the best player in the league, playing for less than his worth — especially his final seasons when Belichick put the screws to his aging passer (ask Brady how he feels about previously playing ball with the team now) — was an asset for the Patriots.

Not only could it give the Patriots an additional veteran player or two a year (three or four in later years), but the team could and did use Brady's salary as a negotiating ploy with other players. "If Tom isn't getting top of the market, why should your guy?" the team often told agents for players.

Brady's contract helped with the cap, and it helped the team remain competitive as the extra money was used to paper over Belichick's increased struggles in the draft.

Once Brady left, you wondered if they would ever find a quarterback who would give them that advantage again. Certainly a second-year player like Jarrett Stidham would give them great cost control for another three or four years. And if he ended up being another franchise quarterback, perhaps they could talk him into taking a similar contract path. "Taking less won Tom six Super Bowl titles and three MVPs ... would you like that for your career?"

Then the team stumbled onto Newton and his league-minimum contract, and it took the Brady Cap Plan to a whole other level.

But if the Patriots have any plans for adding other players, they may have just boxed themselves into a corner that could affect their ability to add other veteran players.

"Basically, yes they have," said one veteran agent.



How can the Patriots offer any other veteran player more than what Newton received without offending the quarterback?

Let's say they wanted to sign some defensive front seven help, with the top available players listed here. The Patriots already look ... let's call it ... interesting that they went the entire offseason without any cap space, used that as a selling point for Newton to take a minimum contract, officially signed him, and then suddenly they settled two grievances that left them with about $8 million in cap space. If you think the rest of the NFL feels that's just a coincidence, then you don't know the rest of the NFL.

 

With that as a backdrop and sort of one strike against them among agents and players, the Patriots can't go to another player, say Jadeveon Clowney or Damon Harrison or Cameron Wake, and sign them for anything better than Newton's deal – one year, plus tough incentives to get to $7.5 million. They would run the risk of ticking off the players in their own locker room — the veterans and their agents pay close attention to this — for stiffing the popular Newton, but the quarterback would be understandably irate.

"That would be insane if the Patriots offered more money to another player, who isn't half as accomplished as Newton," the agent said.

Now, is it possible that Newton could intervene and talk those players into following his lead, and joining him NBA-style for a one-year shot at glory and then striking it rich next season? Yes, it's possible, but Newton has no security and hasn't earned anything yet. It's just as likely Newton is cut in camp with shoulder problems and those players are stuck playing with Stidham or Brian Hoyer, not making the playoffs and not enhancing their stature. Also, those NBA players still make a lot of money when they join up and it's for multiple seasons. Plus, the pandemic is increasing the health risk for all players and that might be too much for some to agree to a cheap deal with no protection.

You might argue Newton could find himself among the best-paid quarterbacks next season with the Patriots if he flourishes and they assign him the franchise tag. This season it was $27 million and will likely go up. The Patriots will not look at it that way. They will tell agents it was essentially a two-year deal worth $17.25 million per season ($7.5 million plus $27 million), which would rank 20th in the NFL at quarterback.

In other words, basically the same amount Brady played for each of the previous three seasons.

"We don't pay over $20 million per season for any quarterback," they could and will say to agents. "And you think your player at another position is worth how much?"

The Patriots certainly played this all correctly. They knew there are more starting QBs available than there were starting spots, and they knew the odds were strong one would be available to them at a substantially reduced rate. It happened to be Newton, but it easily could have been Jameis Winston or Andy Dalton.

So for far less money than Mohamed Sanu, the Patriots substantially raised the competition at the team's most important position and likely made the team better.

But the decision to do that, and the manner in which it transpired with the Newton contract, likely ended the chances to improve the team with anything more than minimum contracts.

In other words, Newton better make a substantial impact or the Patriots just hamstrung themselves.