FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots officially announced the signing of veteran QB Cam Newton today.
Newton, 31, is a veteran of nine NFL seasons with the Carolina Panthers. The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder was selected by Carolina in the first round with the first overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Auburn. He was released by the Panthers on March 24, 2020.
Newton started 124 of the 125 regular-season games he played for the Panthers and completed 2,371 of his 3,980 passes for 29,041 yards with 182 touchdowns and 108 interceptions. His 4,806 rushing yards are third in NFL history among quarterbacks, behind the 6,109 by Mike Vick and the 4,928 by Randall Cunningham and his 58 rushing touchdowns are the most ever by an NFL quarterback. He established the NFL record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single season with 14 in 2011, breaking Patriots Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Grogan's previous NFL record of 12 which he set in 1976. Newton is the only player in NFL history to have at least six seasons with 3,000 or more passing yards and 500 or more rushing yards at any point in his career. Newton and Peyton Manning are the only two players in NFL history to have at least 3,000 passing yards in each of their first eight seasons.
Newton has also started in seven postseason games and has completed 134-of-224 passes for 1,821 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was limited to two games with Carolina in 2019 due to injury.
He was named the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner as a junior and will be the sixth Heisman recipient to suit up for the Patriots in team history, joining RB Joe Bellino (1960 - Navy), QB John Huarte (1964 - Notre Dame), QB Jim Plunkett (1970 - Stanford), QB Doug Flutie (1984 - Boston College) and QB Vinny Testaverde (1986 - Miami). Newton, who was named the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player after leading the Panthers to the NFC Championship and a Super Bowl 50 appearance, is a three-time Pro Bowl player (2011, 2013 and 2015). He was also named the Associated Press Rookie of the Year in 2011.
