Every indication has been that the Patriots are not going to sign Cam Newton and they’re ready to roll with sophomore Jarrett Stidham in the wake of Tom Brady bolting for the Buccaneers.

But Newton’s mere presence on the free-agent market and the unmistakable void left by Brady means the Newton speculation won’t go away, and it appears the door isn’t entirely closed on a Newton-New England union.

“Whether they still bring in someone to compete with [Stidham] still remains to be seen — there’s one major factor out there in Cam Newton,” NFL insider Jay Glazer said in his mailbag for The Athletic. “But they do like Stidham an awful lot. I think they are going to give him every shot to win this.”

The Patriots reportedly like Stidham, 23, over Newton, who turns 31 next week, because of his youth, health and familiarity with their system.

Greg Olsen, Newton’s longtime Panthers teammate who’s now with the Seahawks, thinks Newton’s release in March coming amid the coronavirus pandemic has kept him on the market longer than expected. Olsen noted how his own early February release allowed him to join a new team before stay-at-home orders became commonplace.

“Getting released after the lockdown was put in place, I think really limited [Newton’s] chances of teams A) seeing that he was healthy and B) just having a conversation with your potential new quarterback,” Olsen told reporters on a conference call. “I think that’s been a challenge for him. I just hope that as things continue opening up and life sort of starts resembling some normalcy again that he can start checking off some of those boxes because he’s too good of a player to not be on a team right now.”