Washington's Ron Rivera committed to Ryan Fitzpatrick with Cam Newton available

Current Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera and former New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton famously worked together while with the Carolina Panthers, so many naturally linked the two after the Patriots surprisingly parted ways with the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player on Tuesday. 

According to Peter Hailey of NBC Sports Washington, Rivera admitted to reporters that Newton's availability "did pop up on our radar" before confirming he already has his QB1 on the roster 

"Just so you know, Ryan Fitzpatrick is our starting quarterback," Rivera explained. "So that's where we are. We have three guys that we like that all came to camp, did a nice job for us and we're going to go forward with those guys." 

Washington has Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen beneath Fitzpatrick on the depth chart.

Newton recently missed multiple practices because of a "misunderstanding" about the league's COVID-19 policies, and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was reportedly less than pleased with how that situation played out last week. WBZ-TV’s Levan Reid reported earlier on Tuesday that Newton allegedly remaining unvaccinated against the coronavirus made it easier for Belichick to ultimately name rookie Mac Jones his starting signal-caller. 

Rivera publicly expressed frustration about his team's low vaccination rate in late July. Hailey, meanwhile, added Washington could sign a "developmental" quarterback for the practice squad ahead of the regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 12.