Negan will breath life back into the show. He's been around for some time in the comics and he's a fun character.
A show like TWD needs a villain...without one, it gets slow. S1 had the dead, S2...well, 2 was kind of boring. 3/4 had the Governor. 5/6 have been kind of lost but I expect high things from 7.
It's just like I said...with the non stop open ended episodes and cliffhangers, watching the show in real time is no fun at all. The only reason I watched 6/7 in real time was because it is impossible to use the web and not see spoilers for that long of a period (1yr give or take). At this point, I no longer care enough about the show to where spoilers would be a drag. I'll let S7 come and go, then watch it all in one lump when it hits Netflix fall 2017.