Lombardi on Cassel

[BPF]

Here's what he writes about Cassel today, wow!!:

7. Matt Cassel might be one of the best players in the league right now. YES, read that again, he is playing lights out. And how good are the offensive coaches of the Patriots? Josh McDaniels is the front runner in my book for all head jobs.

8. The Patriots have to franchise Cassel; he has way too much value right now. If Aaron Rodgers can get $20 million from the Packers, what will Cassel get when there is competition in the bidding?

I agree with him on franchising him, QB's are one of the most important commodities in the NFL so it makes sense to franchise him to either keep or trade. You don't let QB's who play this well simply walk away with nothing in return, you either keep the player and get on the field value or you get value back in terms of draft picks.

Another tidbit today from Michael Lombardi as it affects Pioli:

13. I hear Detroit is not going to make any moves in the front office this off season. So for all the Lion fans, the people who brought you this pathetic team are the ones that are going to rebuild this team. Whether it is the car business or the football business, it looks like Detroit loves not changing.

 

[swheeler23]

Josh is in line for all "head jobs" ? Did he forget a word?

 

[BelichickFan]

The people who say "let him walk" are just crazy. Of course that could change if he lays an egg the rest of the season but RIGHT NOW it's nuts.

Example :

Last year the Browns were offered a #1 and #3 for Derek Anderson. Anderson of the 82.5 QB Rating (17th in the league) who put up most of his good numbers in the first half of the season. Now Matt Cassel has a 90.5 rating, 11th in the league, and people think he'll walk. Nope. Not if he keeps playing like this.

Two discalimers :

I know QB Rating isn't everything but it's the easiest way to take a quick look.

Even more important than the rating is the eye test. We've all seen every play. Has Cassel had a lot of near INTs ? Amazing catches ? Nope. He's had more unlucky INTs than "should have been" INTs and most of the catches have been great throws, perfect accuracy to keep the WR on the run. Plus when Cassel is throwing on the run he's still very accurate.

His QB Rating is good. His Eye Test rating to me is even better.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

teams whose QB situations are relatively uncertain for next season:

jets
titans
jags
texans
bengals
chiefs
eagles
bears
vikings
lions
buccaneers
seahawks
9ers
rams

there are other teams whose QB are pretty lousy, but are contractually committed to those stiffs

the pats will franchise cassel because he stands to be the best option available.......and some of those teams have a ton of resources to give up for him....in this case, it will be a sellers market

 

[BelichickFan]

I forgot one thing :

Forget the dumb arguments about "the new team having to give him a new contract" - all trades like this have that disclaimer from Schaub to Anderson.

 

[Rob0729]

I think now that Cassel stands to make more money on the open market than the franchise tag and he knows he has to strike while the iron is hot, the Pats can risk franchising him. Before last week, I thought it was too much of a gamble that he would sign the tender offer. Now it isn't in his best interest.

 

[Ungeheuer]

Guys, the situation with Cassel is really pretty simple. They CAN'T let him go, for two reasons. One is that they don't know if or when Brady is going to recover. Two is that he has too much value. So they have to franchise him, they have no choice really. And the reason it's not illegal is that they will do so fully prepared to keep him for a year. In fact the Pats' best and safest play is to franchise Cassel and keep him, at least until Brady can show he's healthy. For that reason the Pats will really need to be blown away by an offer at the trade deadline to get rid of Cassel.

If they can fit Cassel at all under the cap (and they can, right?) this is really a no brainer. The #1 consideration of any team going forward is the quarterback situation. Until Brady can show he's recovered, they can't depend on him. So they can't get rid of Cassel.

Lombardi is dead right on this one.

 

[BelichickFan]

Guys, the situation with Cassel is really pretty simple. They CAN'T let him go, for two reasons. One is that they don't know if or when Brady is going to recover. Two is that he has too much value. So they have to franchise him, they have no choice really. And the reason it's not illegal is that they will do so fully prepared to keep him for a year. In fact the Pats' best and safest play is to franchise Cassel and keep him, at least until Brady can show he's healthy. For that reason the Pats will really need to be blown away by an offer at the trade deadline to get rid of Cassel.

If they can fit Cassel at all under the cap (and they can, right?) this is really a no brainer. The #1 consideration of any team going forward is the quarterback situation. Until Brady can show he's recovered, they can't depend on him. So they can't get rid of Cassel.

Lombardi is dead right on this one.

Yes they can fit the Franchsise Tag value under the cap to begin FA.

I disagree with you slightly, they can get rid of Cassel but he provides a legitimate value that makes it impossible to question Franchising him.

 

[Lifer]

look, if Cassel throws for an average of 277 yards a game the rest of the way he is going to have a 4,000 yard season. In football, injuries happen, so it would be a good problem to have to have both of them. like was said, Brady isnt back yet and until he is you cant get rid of Cassel.

it will work itself out. in the meantime lets just enjoy this.

i am psyched to watch the Steeler game.

 

[wistahpatsfan]

I said this yeasterday. Right now, and there's no indications things will get worse, Cassel is a top 5 QB in the NFL. You don't let that slip away. Where's Brady going to be at week 8 next year? we don't know. I take a healthy Brady any day over Cassel, But I don't take a Brady who's only 60% healed over him...no way.

BB agrees with me. You do what's right for the team.

 

[Rob0729]

Guys, the situation with Cassel is really pretty simple. They CAN'T let him go, for two reasons. One is that they don't know if or when Brady is going to recover. Two is that he has too much value. So they have to franchise him, they have no choice really. And the reason it's not illegal is that they will do so fully prepared to keep him for a year. In fact the Pats' best and safest play is to franchise Cassel and keep him, at least until Brady can show he's healthy. For that reason the Pats will really need to be blown away by an offer at the trade deadline to get rid of Cassel.

If they can fit Cassel at all under the cap (and they can, right?) this is really a no brainer. The #1 consideration of any team going forward is the quarterback situation. Until Brady can show he's recovered, they can't depend on him. So they can't get rid of Cassel.

Lombardi is dead right on this one.

They can't keep Cassel on the final 53 man roster. The odds are very good that Brady will be back at 100% for the start of the season. I know the media is making it out to be a doomsday scenario, but even with the infection Brady has plenty of time to return. You cannot have a $14 million insurance policy on the roster.

They will only franchise Cassel to trade him. They won't franchise him to keep him on the roster. You cannot have something like $26 million in cap space tied to the QB position.

 

[BPF]

They can't keep Cassel on the final 53 man roster. The odds are very good that Brady will be back at 100% for the start of the season. I know the media is making it out to be a doomsday scenario, but even with the infection Brady has plenty of time to return. You cannot have a $14 million insurance policy on the roster.

They will only franchise Cassel to trade him. They won't franchise him to keep him on the roster. You cannot have something like $26 million in cap space tied to the QB position.

If they do work out a deal the cap value would be considerably less, see Peyton Manning's contract which was for $98 mil and approx $35 mil in signing bonus but has a value of apprx $8 to $10 mil per season. If a new CBA is not worked out there will also be an uncapped year as well so I'm not sure how that plays into it.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

If they do work out a deal the cap value would be considerably less, see Peyton Manning's contract which was for $98 mil and approx $35 mil in signing bonus but has a value of apprx $8 to $10 mil per season. If a new CBA is not worked out there will also be an uncapped year as well so I'm not sure how that plays into it.

In what rational universe does Cassel sign to be a backup in New England when other teams will pay him the same (or more) money to actually be a starter?

 

[BPF]

In what rational universe does Cassel sign to be a backup in New England when other teams will pay him the same (or more) money to actually be a starter?

Correct. Got that but stranger things have happened like a former 6th Rd pick ascending to become one of the top 3-5 QB's of all time and a 7th Rd pick lighting up scoreboards across the league.

 

[Gwedd]

The point is, is that having two QB's with this sort of abilities is the sort of problem that most teams would not mind dealing with.

Cassel should expect to be franchised and see where it goes from there.

One point to keep in mind, however, is that there is a lot of positives to be had in being the starting QB for a team. That can get really old, quickly, for someone who is the starting QB on, say, a team like the Lions. It's not a bad life to get paid well as a back up and have a legitimate chance at a ring.

Respects,

 

[Spiral]

This situation reminds me of the Tebucky Jones situation in 2003. BB franchised him, even though he already was paying his other safety a ton of money (and was about to sign Rodney). There was just no way they were going to let an asset walk out the door if there's a chance they can get someone to pony up some draft picks. Also, after the 2001 season, BB kept saying all along that they were prepared to keep Brady and Bledsoe on the roster. Kept saying that right up until the day he traded him.

 

[Rob0729]

If they do work out a deal the cap value would be considerably less, see Peyton Manning's contract which was for $98 mil and approx $35 mil in signing bonus but has a value of apprx $8 to $10 mil per season. If a new CBA is not worked out there will also be an uncapped year as well so I'm not sure how that plays into it.

What deal would you expect? Cassel and his agent will gladly take more than the $14 million tender offer money and do a two year deal that will allow the Pats to spread the hit over two years for one year of service say at $25 million deal over two years with a $15 million bonus, but they definitely will not take less to stay. Why would he?

Cassel has a chance to start on any one of a dozen teams and get paid an average of $8-10 million a year (at least) with a $20 or so million signing bonus, why would Cassel take less than the $14 million one year tender to be insurance for Brady. The guy wants to start and most certainly wants to be paid.

People need to get it out of their heads that Cassel will happily sign a new deal to may be start if the unlikely chance that Brady cannot start the season. And even if Brady misses the start of the season, Cassel could get benched at some point for Brady.

The ONLY way Cassel is back is if he is franchised. And I say that is about 0.0001% chance barring a major setback by Brady.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Josh is in line for all "head jobs" ? Did he forget a word?

now, that's funny.

 

[BradyManny]

Cassel has a chance to start on any one of a dozen teams and get paid an average of $8-10 million a year (at least) with a $20 or so million signing bonus, why would Cassel take less than the $14 million one year tender to be insurance for Brady. The guy wants to start and most certainly wants to be paid.

That's the biggest reason I think the "should we keep Cassel [long term, and at the expense of Brady]" people are driving me nuts right now. Cassel is going to get a big deal, maybe not Brady big, but it will be bloated, and probably not great value to be honest.

There is no scenario in which Cassel plays a snap for the Pats next season. I'd say right now, it's probably something like 80-20 that they tag and trade him. The 20% being that they just let him walk b/c they don't see trade suitors within the appropriate time window.

 

[scout]

There is no scenario in which Cassel plays a snap for the Pats next season. .

Put this statement with the one that Brady will be 100% next season.
I wouldn't make either assumption, and sure wouldn't base my reasoning on it.