With Tom Brady Gone, the New York Jets Still Can't Catch a Break with the Emergence of Cam Newton

The New York Jets may have traded one headache (Tom Brady) for another (Cam Newton).

After seeing the AFC East dominated for the past two decades by the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady, the hope was for a reprieve from their sustained stranglehold on the division. But life can’t be that simple for the New York Jets.

Instead, the Patriots swapped Brady, arguable the greatest quarterback of all-time, with a quarterback in Cam Newton who may not have the personal or team success but who has all the attributes to excel in his new system. Newton, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who was league MVP in 2015, signed a one-year deal with the Patriots in July that is worth $1.05 million.

And now, former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum is the bearer of bad news. He believes that the Patriots could be closing in on a long-term deal for Newton, who was released this spring by the Carolina Panthers. That window of opportunity, it seems, last just three months for the Jets.

The Patriots have won the AFC East every season since 2008.

If you go back to Cam’s MVP season. His top weapons were Greg Olsen, Tedd Ginn Jr. and Jerricho Cotchery. When you compare that to this group of weapons, albeit not perfect, Cam Newton has a good skill set to work with,” Tannenbaum told Mike Greenberg of ESPN’s ‘Get Up’ on Monday morning.

“And I think this offense will be really hard to defend because it will be diverse. RPOs, direct quarterback runs, Julian Edelman, running backs that can catch the ball. Greeny, mark my words, in two to three weeks, the early storyline that we’ll be talking is ‘When is Cam Newton getting that extension? Cam Newton comeback player of the year. Can they keep up with Baltimore and Kansas City in the AFC?’ If and it’s a big if, Cam Newton stays healthy, I love this match. And more importantly, moving forward, I think he can be the featured quarterback for the next three, four, five years.”

Yes there are knocks on Newton…he has played a full 16-game regular season just once in the past four years. His interception tally has always been high. But he is not just a physically gifted quarterback but also an intelligent and cerebral one at that.

In 2018 when he played 14 games in Carolina, he had 3,395 passing yards with 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Tannebaum is the mastermind of the Jets teams that made consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances beginning in 2009. He drafted the likes of cornerback Darrelle Revis, center Nick Mangold, left tackle and D’Brickashaw Ferguson as well as signing free agents such as linebacker Bart Scott to form the nucleus of those teams. The 2010 team that nearly made the Super Bowl is the last Jets team to make the playoffs.