The New England Patriots decided they didn’t want Cam Newton and released him before the 2021 NFL season. Now that the Carolina Panthers have signed Newton, they are even happier about the decision.
The move, which has worked out reasonably well for the Patriots as they give rookie quarterback Mac Jones the experience he needs, meant that they would have to eat $3.5 million in dead money. However, there were offsets in the contract that allowed the team to save some of that money if Newton resigned with a new franchise.
Now that Newton has returned to play for the Panthers, that’s going to free up $1.5 million in cap space in 2022 for the Patriots.
The #Panthers signing Cam Newton helps the #Patriots, freeing up $1.5M of cap space — in 2022. https://t.co/PxIPsu0Doi
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 11, 2021
That’s a decent chunk of change for a Patriots squad that is going to want to spend some money in free agency this offseason to help Jones out. As the Patriots are 5-4 and competing for a playoff spot, they’ve got the chance to get back to where they were as a Super Bowl-contending franchise sooner than later, especially when you factor in Bill Belichick’s savvy for making smart free agency moves.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are hoping that the 32-year-old Newton can hold down the fort for the rest of the season. Sam Darnold was already struggling before he got injured and Carolina is going to want to make some big decisions after this season about the future of the quarterback position. Newton has the chance to prove he deserves more time in Carolina, or at least another chance with another NFL team next year.
