What Does the Newton News Mean for the Dolphins?

Former NFL MVP Cam Newton is joining the AFC East and that likely will make things more difficult for the Miami Dolphins

Of course it was the New England Patriots who were going to land Cam Newton. Because ... of course.

So just like that, the idea of the Patriots having to rebuild because they were going to go from Tom Brady to Jarrett Stidham goes by the wayside.

Suddenly, the Patriots look like a dangerous team again, even though the Buffalo Bills still look like the best team in the AFC East.

But it cannot be overstated just what a different this signing has made, assuming of course that Newton is able to stay healthy in 2020.

Let us not forget that before he started having injury issues in the second half of the 2018 season Newton was on track to have a season even better than the 2015 performance that got him NFL MVP honors.

In the first 11 games of 2018, Newton completed almost 70 percent of his passes, had a passer rating of 103.7 and rushed for 417 yards.

That's heavy-duty stuff right there.

It's the kind of stuff the Patriots had no right to expect from Stidham, who was a fourth-round pick in 2019 and who attempted all of four passes as a rookie.

In fact, the only thing in common between Newton and Stidham is the fact both attended Auburn University.

Stidham is an absolute unproven quantity as a quarterback, while Newton is an elite quarterback when healthy.

Is he Tom Brady? No, but then again who is.

And even then Brady had a very pedestrian 88.0 passer rating last season, so it's not like the Patriots lost Brady in his prime.

The truth is Newton will be better than Brady ... again, if his body holds up.

Yes, the Patriots have a sub-par wide receiver corps (with all due respect to Julian Edelman) and have rookies at tight end, but they also have a deep group of running backs and a very good offensive line.

Their defense still should be good, even though the Patriots lost too many pieces (new Dolphins Kyle Van Noy and Elandon Roberts among them) to be as elite as it was in 2019.

With Bill Belichick still in charge, underestimating the Patriots always was going to be dangerous. It will be even more so with Newton at quarterback.