An NFL quarterback noted for his unique fashion sense is completing the process that will allow him to play for a coach famous for wrinkled sweatshirts.
Bill Belichick is also famous for his championships as he won six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots. All of those championships came with Tom Brady as the New England quarterback, but he’s no longer on the team.
Cam Newton will have a chance to replace Brady with the Patriots. The former Auburn All-American is in Foxborough, Massachusetts, this weekend to take a physical and, if all goes as expected, sign a one-year contract with the Patriots.
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The news that the Patriots and the former Auburn All-American had reached a contractual agreement was reported Sunday night, and when the process is complete, it will close a circle of NFL quarterbacks that began in March.
It was then that Brady left the Patriots after 20 seasons as a free agent and signed a two-year, $ 50 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That meant the Bucs didn’t need to try to re-sign their starting QB of the past five seasons, Jameis Winston, a former Hueytown High School standout.
An unrestricted free agent, Winston went to the New Orleans Saints, who had a vacancy behind Drew Brees because backup Teddy Bridgewater had gone to the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers signed Bridgewater to a three-year, $ 63 million contract in free agency on March 23, the same day Carolina released Newton, who now has a chance to fill Brady’s old spot with the Patriots.
Newton played in just two games for Carolina in 2019 due to a foot injury. Prior to that, he had been the Panthers’ starting QB since joining the team as the first player chosen in the 2011 NFL Draft. He left Carolina as the all-time leader of the franchise, the record-holder for the NFL for a quarterback’s touchdown and the most valuable player in the 2015 NFL.
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Winston takes a backup role after passing 5,109 yards (the eighth-most in a season in NFL history) and 33 touchdowns in 2019, when he also became the first player in the league to throw at least 30 interceptions since 1988. Like Newton, he left as the all-time leader of the franchise.
Newton and Winston are among the nine current NFL quarterbacks with football roots in Alabama.
Former Athens high school standout Philip Rivers also switched NFL teams this offseason. He also left the Los Angeles Chargers as the franchise career leader after starting each game for the team since the start of the 2006 season.
Rivers is set to be under the center of the Indianapolis Colts in 2020 after signing a one-year, $ 25 million contract in free agency.
The other NFL quarterbacks for Alabama high schools and colleges include:
Devlin Hodges (Mortimer Jordan, Samford) went from being a test player in the rookie minicamp to starting six games for the Pittsburgh Steelers last year. With Ben Roethlisberger returning from an elbow injury after missing 14 games in 2019, Hodges will compete with Mason Rudolph for the backup role.
· Jalen Hurts (Alabama) joined the Philadelphia Eagles as a second-round pick in the NFL Draft on April 24. He probably headed to the backup service behind Carson Wentz as a rookie.
· AJ McCarron (St. Paul’s Episcopal, Alabama) is Deshaun Watson’s backup with the Houston Texans. In his sixth NFL season, McCarron made a start for the Texans in 2019.
· Nick Mullens (Spain Park) is Jimmy Garoppolo’s backup with the San Francisco 49ers. Mullens only took seven snapshots in 2019 during the 49ers’ NFC championship season. But he threw for 2,277 yards at the start of the last eight games of the 2018 season.
Jarrett Stidham (Auburn) appeared on the road to follow Brady with the Patriots until New England signed Newton. A fourth-round draft pick in 2019, Stidham served as Brady’s backup as a rookie.
· Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama) joined the Miami Dolphins as the fifth player chosen in the NFL Draft on April 23. He’ll try to unseat Ryan Fitzpatrick as the Dolphins’ starting quarterback.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ AMarkG1.
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