During their Carolina Panthers careers, Cam Newton and Greg Olsen made for one of the most productive tandems in the NFL. While Olsen will be a Seattle Seahawk and Newton a New England Patriot this year, the standout tight end still has plenty of praise for his former quarterback who signed a contract worth up to $7.5 million but guarantees only $550,000.

“My head popped off when I saw how much he signed for. It’s the all-time greatest deal,” Olsen said during a recent appearance on ESPN’s “First Take.” “I am the biggest Cam Newton advocate out there. He’s been amazing for not only my career, but so many other guys that had the opportunity to play with him the last eight, nine years in Carolina. … He is not a different person than he was in that MVP year. He’s had a couple injuries, he’s had a couple down seasons. I understand what that’s like, I’ve been there myself.

“I couldn’t be happier for him. New England’s gonna find out pretty quick just what a special competitor he is, and he’s gonna be just fine.”

Fans and media members have openly pondered how Newton will fit in with the culture in New England under Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Olsen, like former Auburn head coach Gene Chizik, thinks the Tiger great will fit in just fine.

“I think from talking to guys that have played in New England, I think the public persona of Bill is one thing – And I’m sure there’s truth to some of that – but I think behind closed doors, he understands what each of his players individually need,” Olsen said. “The support they need, the space they might need at times to bring out their best. If you look across Belichick’s coaching career, he’s coached a lot of different style of players. And the one thing he’s gonna learn about Cam is no one wants to win more than him, nobody’s going to come every day and practice harder and train harder and prepare better.

“The things that Cam does so well are pretty much that whole ‘Patriot Way’ of everything is about winning … Cam’s gonna check all those boxes, so I don’t think they’re gonna have any issues in that front. Is he gonna dress different after the games than some of the other quarterbacks? Of course. Cam is his own person, but never at any moment does it ever take away from his willingness and his preparation to go out there and win first and foremost. And I think that would resonate with all coaches around the league, not just in New England.”

[H/T 247Sports]