Just when it looked like the AFC East was finally up for grabs, the New England Patriots replaced Tom Brady by making an experienced, accomplished quarterback appear out of thin air. The Pats also pulled this off in the middle of the damn summer, a few weeks before training camps are scheduled to open (maybe). Even by Bill Belichick’s beguiling standards, signing Cam Newton qualifies as a pretty deft maneuver.
But by signing him, the Patriots did something that fits with how they’ve operated across Belichick’s two decades in charge: They found value in a veteran player other teams either didn’t want or couldn’t find the right place for. The only difference is that New England has long done this without having to worry about its quarterback. But by adding Newton, they’ve worked the same angles by gaming the salary cap and the compensatory draft-pick system to shore up the most important spot on the roster.
The rough terms of Newton’s deal drive home the point:
For the #Patriots and Cam Newton, who have quietly worked on this recently, it’s a 1-year deal worth up to $7.5M, source said. https://t.co/YSHLAcRupb
That “worth up to $7.5M” is the real giveaway: Newton’s deal appears to be heavy on incentives. This means it’s a low-risk addition with the potential for high reward – exactly the sort of personnel move on which the Patriots have long staked their dynasty.
If this works out … hoo boy. But the Pats have also set themselves up to possibly recoup the draft pick they’re about to lose because of last season’s Spygate sequel.
This is very New England: Now if Cam Newton plays well in 2020, and leaves as a free agent, the Patriots could get back a compensatory 2022 third-round pick to help make up for 2021 third-round pick the NFL is taking away from New England for its videotape violation.
(It surely was a coincidence that news of the Spygate II punishment leaked right around the same time Sunday night that word of Newton’s signing made its way to the Schefterphone. Belichick’s other great success is his ability to foster easy cynicism.)
At the same time, if the Newton signing doesn’t work out, it won’t cost New England very much. The Patriots went into the summer with less salary-cap space than any other team – roughly $1.3 million, per Over The Cap. So they didn’t have much to offer. But because no real market developed for Newton, and because New England could offer the likelihood of a starting job and the chance to work with the greatest head coach in NFL history, the Patriots were able to present a modest contract that defers most of its impact on the salary cap into 2021.
As Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap noted, Newton’s deal is likely similar to the low-cost pact Jameis Winston signed with the New Orleans Saints: a base salary near the league’s veteran minimum ($1.05 million in Newton’s case) with incentives that can bring it up to $7.5 million if he were to start and to hit some additional statistical benchmarks. This matters because the accounting for any contract incentives gets rolled onto the cap the year after those incentives are achieved.
Kathryn Riley / Getty Images
There are benefits to this arrangement for both Newton and the Pats. Newton gets to bet on himself; if he thrives, he’ll set himself up for true starter-level money after the uncertainty of the pandemic and its potential negative impact on the league-wide salary cap has passed. The Pats get whatever Newton might have left for a least a year, with an exclusive window to try to retain him if things work out, along with the possibility of a compensatory-pick payoff if he were to walk. Once again, Belichick thought of everything here.
Dom Cosentino is a senior features writer at theScore.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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