Mike McCarn/Connected Press
Washington head coach Ron Rivera turned into once no longer in opposition to bringing quarterback Cam Newton with him to the District.
It turned into once the upcoming future of quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. that stopped him from searching out for to attain so. Talking to 670 The Rep in Chicago on Monday, Rivera outlined signing Newton likely will have took area if it hadn’t threatened Haskins’ enhance.
“If the circumstances had allowed us, I shouldn’t have had a self-discipline with that,” Rivera acknowledged (h/t Mike DePrisco of NBC Sports activities Washington). “I’d’ve been very confident and pleased going after him and bringing him to be a part of what we’re doing right here.”
Rivera’s converse would maybe maybe also honest near off moderately dubious given the foremost few moves he made after Washington hired him.
On March 24, three months after Rivera turned into once hired, Washington traded for quarterback Kyle Allen from Carolina, giving up a fifth-spherical steal. Allen conducted 13 video games below Rivera final season with Newton injured, passing for 3,322 yards, 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Newton is indubitably no longer with out quiz marks. After two consecutive injury-plagued years ended his inch in Carolina this offseason, the 2015 MVP first desires to hide he’s wholesome ample to establish on the self-discipline sooner than he makes an strive to revamp his profession.
Nevertheless that is rarely any longer what alive to Rivera. As a replace it turned into once guaranteeing Haskins, the No. 15 overall steal in 2019, had a likelihood to provoke his new coaches.
“That is the honest correct thing about being a brand new head coach is that we would maybe maybe also honest additionally be patient,” Rivera acknowledged. “We are able to place aside these guys thru exercises and fetch to hang what we have and essentially feel correct kind about it or produce no longer essentially feel correct kind about it. Then we must exit and effect some modifications, nonetheless until we fetch that likelihood to hang what we have, it would’ve been very exhausting to bring a man in who’s had such a stable profession, who turned into once a league MVP at one time and request the younger man to fetch his prospects to develop.”
The New England Patriots, who agreed to tag Newton on Sunday evening, are in a equivalent pickle.
Following the departure of Tom Brady to Tampa Bay, the group acquired Newton on a minimal deal to compete for the initiating job alongside Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham, whom New England took in the fourth spherical final year.
Stidham turned into once considered as Brady’s inheritor obvious until the Newton signing despite having simplest thrown four NFL passes in his profession.
Haskins, meanwhile, began seven video games in 2019, ending 58.6 p.c of his passes for 1,365 yards, seven touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
