"Cam's our quarterback ..." until he isn't.

Cam Newton will be the starter ... until he isn't. That's always how the story goes.

Some people never learn. 

Last night, after Patriots' coach Bill Belichick met the media to discuss his selection of Alabama quarterback Mac Jones with the 15th selection overall, most of the collected reporters made a big deal out of the fact that Belichick said in his opening remark that "Cam's our quarterback" -- of course, in reference to Cam Newton.

Well, what else was Belichick going to say? And since he's been here since 2000, hasn't the media picked up on his mannerisms yet?

As always, it will be Bill's call.

Belichick is not going to say publicly that Newton should be ready to pack his bags. First of all, he respects veteran players too much to publicly humiliate them. And he's not going to give the media fodder to create dissent and disruption within his team. It's his way -- although I have to give one unnamed reporter credit from the transcript I read, for getting Belichick to say that for Newton to not be the starting quarterback, "Somebody would have to play better than he does."

Well, duh. That's usually the case with all players. And indeed, I'd have to agree with what Belichick said at the top, although I would presume to finish his initial statement by adding "until he isn't."

Belichick is not going to anoint Mac the Knife (younger readers, Google "Threepenny Opera.") as his starter right now, before he has even set foot on the artificial turf at Gillette Stadium. He'll probably even make the kid wear some stupid number like 58 (sorry, Pete Brock) in training camp. Only Bill knows when Jones will become the starter, and he won't tell anyone outside the team until long after the decision has been made.

Mac Jones is here to be a starter.

But I'll tell you one thing. Nobody in the NFL has ever drafted a college quarterback within the first 15 picks without the intention of starting him -- and soon. I do remember that Bill Parcells danced around some nonsense of starting journeyman Scott Secules over Drew Bledsoe, the No. 1 pick in the land in 1993, but that foolishness didn't last very long.

Mac Jones will be the starter for the New England Patriots soon. Very soon -- unless he absolutely shits the bed in training camp. That's not likely. 

Newton will remain here only as long as Belichick sees him as a necessary insurance policy. But given his struggles last year, and the blueprint that Belichick laid down through his free-agency expenditures, it almost seems inevitable that the Patriots will move on from Newton as quickly as possible.

It's not that Newton didn't try. He did. He played as well as he could -- and, he had the unfortunate circumstance of coming down with COVID-19 early in the season. Some say he never fully recovered, but COVID does not turn a man's arm into jelly. Athletic old age does. And given how much Belichick spent in the offseason to upgrade his receiving corps and tight end, he does not want to hand the keys over to a quarterback whose last option for success is to run the ball himself.

That's not to say that Newton can't help some other team. And usually, Belichick is quite accommodating to accomplished veterans. If he is convinced that Jones can take the reins at the start of the season, and he can't find a willing suitor for Newton through trade during the lead-up to training camp, Belichick will release Newton early in camp to give him time to find another interested team and to get familiar with their system in time for their season to start.

Call it a professional courtesy. Bill's big on those.

Meanwhile, he has nine other draft picks to ponder when the draft resumes tonight at 7. The odds of him using all nine in their original positions have to be worse than 1/1,000. And that's why I'm glad I don't cover the draft any more, because no matter how many bands the NFL invites to turn the most boring three days in sport into a boring three-day fan festival, it's still a whole lot of "hurry up and wait" for the media members covering the proceedings.

But at least Belichick didn't trade out of the first round this year. We can all be thankful for small favors.