3 strangest players to play in a Patriots jersey

1. Cam Newton

Now, this one is very recent, but there are a multitude of reasons this felt incredibly strange. Cam Newton was kicked to the curb by the Carolina Panthers when it was clear the injuries had piled up. He wasn’t the same player, and the Panthers wanted to move on to *checks notes* Sam Darnold?

Well anyway… the Patriots were trying to move on from their own MVP quarterback. Tom Brady is a little different than Newton, but it made sense on paper to replace Brady with Newton. The Patriots needed a transition, and Newton was willing to take a low-money deal.

The Patriots completely revamped the offense for Newton, barely throwing the ball and using a tiered running attack to confuse opponents. He was able to win seven games despite most thinking the Patriots would bottom out without Brady. Brady did end up winning a Super Bowl in a strange pandemic year, but the Pats kept their heads above water.

Most thought the Patriots would keep the Newton experiment going with Mac Jones sitting for a year, but Newton was cut at the end of training camp in 2021. Jones, the rookie, took over the starting job from Newton, and Cam went back to Carolina to make a few more moments.