New England Patriots: 3 Players who won’t be back in 2021

1. Cam Newton

The top player and the biggest name on this list of players who likely won’t return to the Patriots in 2021 is quarterback Cam Newton, who would exit New England after a one-year trial run in Foxborough.

Newton signed with the Patriots prior to the start of the 2020 season, with the team taking a chance on the veteran quarterback to see what he might have left in the tank by signing Newton to a one-year deal to take over as the starter under center.

As the new starting quarterback in the first season without Tom Brady, New England hoped Newton would provide the offense with that talented dual-threat ability that would give the Patriots a look they haven’t had on that side of the line of scrimmage in over two decades.

By the end of the season, however, the Newton experiment didn’t work out as planned and both he and the offense in general struggled mightily throughout the course of the regular season.

In 15 appearances in 2020, Newton completed a career-low 242 passes for an overall total of 2,657 yards passing, which is also a career-worst mark. He also threw for just eight touchdowns through the air while throwing 10 interceptions.

On the ground, Newton was able to have some success for New England, recording 137 rush attempts for 592 yards and 12 touchdowns, which is the highest total since his rookie season in 2011 (14 touchdowns).

Now going into the offseason in advance of the 2021 campaign, Newton will once again hit the free agent market and the Patriots are likely to try and at least look elsewhere initially to find a new starting quarterback in the new year.

Newton could ultimately end up back in Foxborough, but you would think it would be in a backup role if at all. Given the talented quarterbacks in the draft class entering the NFL this year and plenty of quarterbacks available on the open market and trade market, the Patriots will likely exhaust every other option possible before thinking about bringing back Newton in 2021.