Former Patriot Believes Jarrett Stidham Will Be Week 1 Starter
With the addition of Cam Newton, many are assuming that the 2015 MVP will be the Week 1 starter for the New England Patriots this upcoming season.
But there's one person that says the brakes need to be pumped on that narrative.
NFL analyst and former New England Patriot Scott Zolak said that he believes Jarrett Stidham will start over Cam Newton in an episode of "Zolak and Bertrand" on 98.5 The Sports Hub Tuesday.
"I believe Jarrett is going to be the starter from the people that I talk to, the people that I trust: the players, people tied to the team, team captains,” Zolak said. “The way they speak of Jarrett Stidham and the work he has put in.”
Zolak also said Stidham being the starter has to do with Newton's lack of experience in the Patriots' system.
“I just don’t know if Cam Newton is gonna do this in 35 days and be ready to go unless it’s some completely different offense that’s going to run at 40 percent efficiency,” Zolak said.
And of course, there's the matter of his relationship with Bill Belichick. Although Stidham has only thrown four passes in his first NFL season, he has been working with the team this entire offseason, as Zolak noted.
“A lot of people thought Stidham was on a two-week vacation on a wedding tour down in Texas,” Zolak said. “He did go to a wedding. But he worked out every day…with pro-caliber receivers. That’s what I was told.”
For most of the offseason, the six-time Super Bowl champions opted not to sign a quarterback that would compete with Stidham for the starting job. Instead, they chose to sign Brian Hoyer, who has experience in New England's system and could provide a higher floor of quarterback play in the event that Stidham struggled as a sophomore, albeit not that very high.
But then Cam Newton happened. On June 28, the team signed Newton to a one-year, $7.5 million that was incentive-laden. Because of his experience in the NFL and his incredible athleticism and ability, Newton was the presumed starter over Stidham, who has zero experience as a starter.
While some may think signing Newton was because the organization didn't fully believe that Stidham was prepared to be the starting quarterback for the Patriots, another perspective to look at is the fact that Newton being available to sign at that cheap of a rate was too good a deal to pass up. So, New England pulled the trigger. If Newton works out and plays well, the most they have to pay him is $7.5 million. If he doesn't pan out, the financial burden is minimum and they could even cut him if they wanted to.
Training camp, which is set to start in just a couple of weeks, will surely help with the Stidham vs. Newton decision in New England.
