New England Patriots links 7/02/20 - Cam Newton brings instant swag to 2020 Patriots

TEAM TALK

• Paul Perillo passes along reports that the league will cancel Weeks 1 and 4 of the preseason, and what it means for the Pats.
• Angelique Fiske reports as the annual ‘Team Jack Trifecta’ goes virtual, Rex Burkhead continues to shine light on pediatric brain cancer funding.
• Patriots Unfiltered 6/30: Reaction to the Cam Newton signing. (2 hours)
• Pats from the Past: Sam Gash discusses the lost art of playing fullback, his mano a mano battles, and more. (44 min.)

LOCAL LINKS

• Karen Guregian points out how with one move, the Patriots have gotten their swagger back. Players were behind Jarrett Stidham, but they know Newton is a potential game-changer.
• Aidan Curran looks at the film to tell us what Cam Newton can bring to the Patriots.
• Michael Hull (LastWordOnSports) Cam Newton film room: SuperCam returns?
• Bruce Castleberry details why the Cam Newton acquisition is all upside for New England.
• Andy Hart believes this unique offseason could help, not hurt, Cam Newton and the Patriots.
• Jim Hackett questions why there are questions about Cam Newton. It’s all good.
• Nicole Yang highlights Randy Moss on Cam Newton signing with the Patriots: ‘There is going to be a change in New England.’
• Jaylon Thompson (247Sports) LaDainian Tomlinson examines Cam Newton’s impact on Patriots RBs.
• Logan Mullen hears from Cam Newton’s former offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski on why this is a great move. ‘Cam loves football.’ ‘Extremely competitive.’
• Nick Goss gives us the financial breakdown of Newton’s contract with the Patriots, including base salary, guaranteed money and incentive totals.
• CBS Boston notes the Patriots can place the franchise tag on Cam Newton for 2021.
• Matthew Geagan finds with the Cam Newton signing, the expectation is he’ll be New England’s starter in Week 1. One rival head coach in the AFC East isn’t buying it though.
• Michael Hurley and Matthew Geagan mention Cam Newton joins the list of esteemed athletes with Massachusetts town and city names.
• Tom E. Curran has an eye on Stephon Gilmore’s contract, explaining why the Pats already need to start thinking about his next deal even though he has two years left. It’s going to cost them to keep him.
• Rob Bradford notes new Patriots TE Dalton Keene gets riled up by Skip Bayless comment.
• Daniel Priest notes Rodney Harrison doesn’t think there will be an NFL season.
• Abigail Adams takes a look at 2020 so far: The good, the bad, and the ugly; Plus, more random thoughts.
• Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate and Thomas Murphy discuss all things Cam Newton, and pile on the NFL for piling on the Pats. (44 min.)
• Patriots Beat podcast: Mike Petraglia and Evan Lazar break down the Cam Newton signing. (34 min.)
• Next Pats Podcast: Phil Perry hears from infectious disease expert on sports returning in 2020. (31 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Kevin Seifert (ESPN) Source: NFL shortens preseason to just two weeks as league continues to plot its 2020 strategy.
• Grant Gordon (NFL.com) NFLPA has not signed off on shortened preseason
• Albert Breer (SI) Mailbag: Is 2020 a make or break year For Jimmy Garoppolo? Plus, how close the Bills are from a Super Bowl, the Patriots making moves to free up cap space, when Tua Tagovailoa might start and what will likely happen with the Jets and Jamal Adams.
• Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports) Six NFL pre-training camp predictions: Colin Kaepernick stays unsigned, preseason reduced or scrapped, more.
• Will Brinson (CBS Sports) Cam Newton to Patriots: What are his injuries, why didn’t other teams sign him, how will Pats offense look?
• Eric Edholm (Yahoo! Sports) Cam Newton’s contract with Patriots is shockingly thin on guaranteed money.
• Danny Heifetz (The Ringer) Breaking down the AFC after the Cam Newton signing.
• Shalise Manza Young (Yahoo! Sports) Welcome to Boston, Cam Newton. He can already hear the dog whistles and trite criticism. /Felger & Mazz shouldn’t be cited as indicative of anything.
• Mike Fisher (SI) What Cowboys will borrow from Patriots Belichick (No, not Cam or cheating). /Lame.
• Joel Corry (CBS Sports) Agent’s Take: Examining decline of running back salaries after Adrian Peterson calls market ‘disrespectful’.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) Ranking the 10 best coaching matchups of 2020 and Bill Belichick dominates the list.
• Sean Wagner-McGough (CBS Sports) Ranking NFL divisions by starting QBs. 8th: AFC East.
• NFL Throwback (NFL.com) 13 MVP QBs who changed teams. (8 min. video)
• John Breech (CBS Sports) 2020 NFL Supplemental Draft: League reportedly cancels July event amid pandemic.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL’s proposed timeline has rookies reporting as early as July 19
• Mike Jones (USA Today) As NFL training camps draw closer, big questions about coronavirus protocols still linger.
• Nick Selbe (SI) Report: NFL considers requiring fans to sign COVID-19 liability waivers to attend games.