The New Orleans Saints have quite the flurry of options surrounding the future of their quarterback position right now, but adding Cam Newton could cross their agenda. Saints head coach Sean Payton has been vocal about viewing Jameis Winston or Taysom as the heir to Drew Brees, but adding Newton to the team could keep the pressure on them to perform at their best.
Newton is a very underrated quarterback on the free agent market this offseason and the Saints could look to bring him in. A former league MVP, Newton still has a lot of gas in the tank and could give the Saints a reliable backup if they roll with both Winston and Newton.
He is coming off of a one season stint with the New England Patriots, but that didn’t go nearly as planned. Newton had very few weapons to work with and struggled in large part because of that.
In 2020, Newton posted a 7-8 win loss record, completed 65.8 percent of his passes, tossed 2,657 passing yards, and had a touchdown to interception ratio of eight to 10. Newton also ran the ball as well as he ever has, as he did so 137 times for 592 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Newton simply needs to be placed in a winning organization to regain his swagger and New Orleans could be the place to do just that. Payton is a quarterback guru and he could have some tricks up his sleeve for Newton.
Here’s a look at three reasons why the Saints should sign Cam Newton.
3. Experience
The Saints are going to miss one thing in particular when it comes to the eventual retirement of Drew Brees, and that’s the experience he brings. Even if the Saints decide to roll with Jameis Winston as the starting quarterback, having an experienced backup will certainly play a great role for the Saints.
New Orleans needs to be careful that they don’t bank on Winston being a great replacement because he’s received some high praise based off how he’s performed in practice. Adding a veteran signal caller in Cam Newton could give the Saints a dependable fallback option in case things with Winston go wrong.
Sure, Newton has had his fair share of struggles, but so has Winston. If the Saints are willing to give Winston a shot to be the starting quarterback that replaces Brees, then why shouldn’t they consider the same for a former NFL MVP?
2. Cheap Option
Cam Newton is not only a solid fall back plan for the Saints, but he could also be a salary cap friendly option. The Saints have already been forced to maneuver quite a bit of cap space and adding a guy like Newton shouldn’t be much of a cap hit.
The Saints saw Winston play for just over $1 million in 2020 and while Newton likely won’t take that big of a discount, he could take quite a bit less to pursue a championship in New Orleans. Newton is going to have to regain some trust from a notable coach to cash out like he once could and New Orleans has seemed to be the spot to do that recently.
New Orleans could be interested in bringing in Newton, but they won’t do it if the price is too high. Newton knows he’s not going to get what he once could, so signing a deal with the Saints could be a good option for him and his career moving forward.
1. NFC South Ties
The NFC South has a way of recycling their quarterbacks between the division and we’ve seen it happen quite a bit in recent years. The Saints have former Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston, the Panthers have former Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and the Buccaneers have former Saints quarterback Ryan Griffin. The Saints could continue the tradition with the addition of Cam Newton.
Playing against teams in the NFC South takes a major learning curve, hence the reason Tom Brady struggled in his first season at certain times with the Bucs. Adding a quarterback who has spent a lot of time in the NFC South and has ties to a major Saints rival could help the team out tremendously.
Newton has a lot of talent and the Saints could and should be willing to take a chance on him if the price is right. Adding a veteran backup with a resume like Cam Newton’s is never a bad thing and the Saints could benefit more than any other team.
