jmt57

Curran: Best, worst offseason moves NFL teams made - NFL- nbcsports.msnbc.com

Interesting - but faulty, in my opinion - list of the ten best and ten worst decisions NFL teams made this offseason.

Curran ranks the Jets getting Sanchez as the best move, but ranks the Lions getting Sanford as the worst. Then after saying Detroit should have taken a building block like Aaron Curry, he flip flops back by saying the Chiefs picking up Matt Cassel was a good move.

Curran also ignores the salary cap situation at the time and ranks the Pats as one of the worst moves for 'giving away Cassel.' Coincidentally he does not have anything to say about the Panthers offseason.

Other moves worth noting are the Cowboys ditching T.O. and the Broncos dealing Cutler as the 2nd and 3rd best, while the Bills signing Owens and the Browns hiring Mangini are among the worst in his opinion.

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betterthanthealternative

Until analysts and commentators come to realize that teams trade cap space at the same time they trade players and draft picks, and that in many cases the trading of the cap space is more significant than the players involved, they are stuck in the 1990's and are useless.

The most valuable thing that Pats got from KC in the Cassel trade was the cap space, by far. Until we see what they can do with it, and what KC can't do because they don't have it, we can't analyze the trade.

I suspect this makes Curran's head explode so he sticks with the simplicity of the traditional formula for trade evaluation.

farn

Can you imagine what would've happened if Cassel still had one more year from his rookie contract ? I'm pretty confident that the Pats could've gotten the type of haul Curran was seeking. But, it is what it is and yes - they needed to move the cap space, move the older player as well to free up cap space and save face (avoid Milloy-type situation)...

HEY BRO! WHAT UP?

I can't argue with Curran not liking the Cassel trade. Believe or not, the Pats could have gotten more for Cassel. In fact, teams were offering the Browns a first rounder for Brady Quinn. Your telling me the Pats couldn't have gotten a first rounder for Cassel who helped the Pats to an 11-5 record and throwing 21 TD's? I think BB and Pioli had a deal wherever Pioli went and BB didn't want to strip him of his high draft picks to start his new gig.

cstjohn17

I agree, they got what they got by being in a hurry to shore up their tight cap position. If they had more cap room at the start they could have traded Cassell for more and extended Wilfork. It looks like they are betting heavy on an uncapped year in 2010.

mgteich

No one, I repeat no one, was offering a first (at least 2 spots higher than what we got) for the priviledge of signing Cassel to a one-year $14M contract. KC's owner was willing to shell out the cash, and apparently Pioli had nothing better to do with his huge amount of cap room.

It is possible that Belichick did Pioli a favor if, for example, Detroit had offered the #34, but that is sheer specualtion.

I think that the deal was done a couple of weeks before the announcement, and that Detroit was likely given an opportunity. If Detriot were interested in a bidding war, perhaps the patriots could have gotten another late pick, but it seems likely that Detroit wasn't interested. We all should understand that their FO is totally incompetent.

The patriots did what they needed to do. Belichick freed up cap room and secured a top pick in the 2009 draft. He then had a fine offseason and a fine draft. Perhaps Curran would have preferred that the patriots had the offseason of Carolina instead of our own.

IMHO, even if the patriots could have gotten the 18th or 19th draft choice in the week before the draft, the increase in draft value would not have been worth the damage the wait would have caused our free agent efforts. As far as the draft, Belichick probably would not have had to take the risk of losing Butler and would probably have made him a first round choice.

spacecrime

So who were the teams bidding first rounders? As I recall, no team offered anything. Lions and Bucs made noise after the trade as though they were considering it, but nothing while the KC trade was under way.

And again, to belabor a point because some people cannot accept it, until Cassel was traded, Fred Taylor and Chris Baker do not get signed, nor Springs, etc.

Pats726

MORE but at what expense??? There was a time element involved that Curran is missing totally..

PatsBoy12

I heard what BB had to say about clearing cap space and making a move on the FA's, and I choose to believe that the moves he made were the right moves. Later, Curran.

HEY BRO! WHAT UP?

Unless you work in the Pats front office, you or I don't know this.

For Cassel or Quinn? For Quinn, I have no idea but this was on sportscenter many times that the Browns rejected offers from some teams. As for Cassel, the whole Denver fiasco started when the Cassel trade went down and McDaniels tried to trade for him but it was too late. You guys know this, in a three way trade the Broncos or Bucs were rumored to give New England it's first round pick.

My whole point was that if teams were rumored to offer the Browns a first round pick for Brady Quinn, why wouldn't teams do the same for Matt Cassel? Like I said before, BB and Pioli had this deal in place long before FA started. Wherever Pioli went, BB wasn't going to ask for a 1st rounder from a good friend that helped build this team and give Pioli nothing to work with his first season on the job. But you guys are right about the Pats had to get rid of Cassel so they can sign some free agents.