It's an interesting signing. And I can see why they did it. Financially it's pretty much zero risk. The biggest risk, really, is potentially stunting the development of Stidham who they presumably like. At minimum they are now splitting reps in camp which hurts the young kid. If Newton wins the job and plays poorly or gets hurt 2-3 weeks in they will have taken valuable developmental time away from Stidham. If Newton plays very well and stays healthy same thing but then New England will get a comp. pick when he walks for greener and richer pastures in 2021.

Of course, the Patriots have a history of making aging veteran one-year free agent signings and then releasing them before week 1 and even that is an option here.