NFL: Los Angeles Rams at Carolina Panthers
Jeremy Brevard / USA TODAY Sports

If there's one person in the NFL who has a unique perspective on the current state of Cam Newton's career, it's Greg Van Wroten. Not only did Van Wroten spend the past three seasons as Newton's teammate in Carolina, but the offensive linemen will also be playing against Newton twice this year, and that's because Van Wroten signed with the Jets this offseason. 

Although Van Wroten is excited about playing for his new team, he doesn't sound too excited about the prospect of playing against his former teammate. During a recent interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio, Van Wroten explained why other teams should be terrified at the thought of Newton playing on a team coached by Bill Belichick. 

"It's definitely terrifying to think about -- if Cam Newton's healthy in Belichick's offense in my division -- it could be a long year for the other teams, because he's a game changer," Van Wroten said. "He came into the league, you know, he's a league MVP, brought a team to a Super Bowl."

If Newton is healthy, Van Wroten expects the quarterback to be a "headache" for opposing defenses. 

"He's just built differently than a lot of quarterbacks and he's a headache to game plan for, so when he's healthy, you can stop the run from him, but then you gotta defend the pass," Van Wroten said. "If you can stop the pass, well, then you've got to account for the run. So, it's basically, pick one thing and he'll do the other. And then you couple him with Belichick, who only cares about winning and Cam really wants to prove himself, so it's definitely a recipe for disaster for the rest of the league if they can figure it out."

When Newton signed with the Patriots in late June, the move came out of nowhere. Although there had been some speculation that the two sides had been talking this offseason, there wasn't any thought that a deal might be close. Not only was Van Wroten somewhat shocked that Newton ended up in New England, but he was also surprised that the Panthers would even release their former franchise quarterback. 

"I was surprised, but I also saw it coming, if that makes sense," Van Roten said of Newton's release. "It was one of those situations where you have this talent, you have this franchise quarterback and you're going to release him? To me, that seems like an interesting business decision, because you can replace a coaching staff, you can get a new scouting department, you can get a new business side of football, but when it comes to a franchise quarterback, and there's plenty of teams across the league that will attest to this, you better be right, because you're mortgaging the next couple of years on that decision." 

For the Patriots, adding Newton was a decision that came with almost zero risk. If Newton returns to his MVP form, then New England's dynasty could end continuing for another few years. On the other hand, if Newton struggles, the Panthers are only out $550,000 and they can give the starting quarterback job to Jarrett Stidham. 

Although Newton hasn't been able to officially practice with the Patriots just yet, he has taken part in several private workouts with some of his new teammates. Not only has he been throwing passes to Mohamed Sanu, but the Patriots' new quarterback also found some time to practice with Julian Edelman earlier this week.