The Patriots Still Choosing to Pass on Cam Newton and Andy Dalton is an Actual Joke

Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is easily the biggest story of this NFL offseason. Bill Belichick is known as a football mastermind so it was easy to assume a quick backup plan would be enacted.

Players like Cam Newton and Andy Dalton are available, with Newton being a free agent and Dalton as an easy trade target. Yet Belichick has not added either player with a quarterback depth chart of Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer currently at his disposable.

Dalton is only under contract through 2020 and Newton is without a current deal. Yes, there are cap issues that would have to be resolved for the Patriots to add either player. But the plan can't possibly be to roll with Hoyer or Stidham, right?

Belichick still has time and can use the COVID-19 shutdowns as an excuse for not making a quick move on players like Newton or Dalton. The only other explanation is that the coach is planning to make a bold move to select one of the top quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The obvious decision would be to add someone like Newton or Dalton to avoid a major drop-off in production after losing Brady. However, this is Belichick we are talking about, so the blueprint is never the obvious one.