Cassel had no say in trade??

[Absurdly Metro]

Anyone else find it interesting that MC didn't give the Pats any direction on where he would end up?

Q: Did you give the Patriots a list of teams you were interested in being traded to or was it done on their own?
CASSEL: “This was done on their own. They decided that this was the best opportunity for them. It just worked the way it did. I got the phone call yesterday.”

 

[tanked_as_usual]

he's being a good guy about the whole thing.......

if you were him, wouldn't you be tickled pink with your situation right now, given that 6 months ago your job for the league minimum was hanging by a thread?

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

he's being a good guy about the whole thing.......

if you were him, wouldn't you be tickled pink with your situation right now, given that 6 months ago your job for the league minimum was hanging by a thread?

The reason why he has no problems is because hes getting paid! Hes going to a team where he will be comfortable with. He knows Pioli and Vrabel and BB put him in a good spot! Thats why hes ok with it!!

 

[jmt57]

Link to full article in case anybody's interested:

More from Cassel in KC - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com

 

[ScottieC]

Anyone else find it interesting that MC didn't give the Pats any direction on where he would end up?

Ah, no. What do you think Matt would do, walk into Bill's office and say "I'd like to go to Denver, work it out. Later"

Bill worked the deal with Pioli, Cassel should never have been included in the discussions.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

There was a lot of sepculation on this board that the market might have been smaller because MC probably had a big say in where the Pats could trade him. Based on his assessment today that was clearly not the case. Sounds like he was just along for the ride.

 

[Fencer]

There was a lot of sepculation on this board that the market might have been smaller because MC probably had a big say in where the Pats could trade him. Based on his assessment today that was clearly not the case. Sounds like he was just along for the ride.

Actually, there were three possibilities:

A. Cassel cooperates completely.
B. Cassel is choosy about which team he'll sign a long-term deal with.
C. Cassel decides to just stand pat on his over-priced one-year contract, not considering a renegotiation until after he's been traded (if then)

It sounds as if he took Option C.

 

[supafly]

he's being a good guy about the whole thing.......

if you were him, wouldn't you be tickled pink with your situation right now, given that 6 months ago your job for the league minimum was hanging by a thread?

yeah, this is the theory i'm going with. you hit it right on the head

 

[spacecrime]

Ah, no. What do you think Matt would do, walk into Bill's office and say "I'd like to go to Denver, work it out. Later"

No, but but your comment is way over the top given that the question was only if Cassel had input into the trade.

If I were Cassel I would have had input, as in, "Just say no to the Lions."

As it turned out, BB did say NO to the Lions, showing he had Cassel's best interests at heart, and perhaps justifiying the trust Cassel had in him.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Anyone else find it interesting that MC didn't give the Pats any direction on where he would end up?

I think you'd see a very different answer from Cassel if they'd been able to work out a long-term contract. If he had $30 million in hand guaranteed you'd be hearing that KC was his first, last and only choice, and that he's the one who wanted to make this happen.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

he's being a good guy about the whole thing.......

if you were him, wouldn't you be tickled pink with your situation right now, given that 6 months ago your job for the league minimum was hanging by a thread?

That's what many of us "outsiders" thought. Listening to Cassel and Belichick, his job was never actually in jeopardy.

 

[BlitzFritz]

I vote for D -- Cassel is playing dumb. And we will never know how he did or did not influence the trade.....

according to Cassel:
- he never understood what the franchise tag meant
- he didnt really know what the Pats wanted to do with him
- he has no idea what is going on between his agent and Pioli right now
blah blah blah

Cassel certainly could have influenced the trading partners.

 

[ScottieC]

No, but but your comment is way over the top given that the question was only if Cassel had input into the trade.

If I were Cassel I would have had input, as in, "Just say no to the Lions."

As it turned out, BB did say NO to the Lions, showing he had Cassel's best interests at heart, and perhaps justifiying the trust Cassel had in him.

Easy Spacecrime, I know it was over the top - it was ment to be.

Just havin' a little fun. Come on, the visual of Cassel walking in and giving Bill his "input" on where is wanted to go is funny. Admit it.

 

[Spiral]

The most surprising aspect of the trade to me was the fact that MC wasn't signed to a long-term contract before the trade. My guess is that Cassel's agent made it clear to Pioli what it will take to sign Cassel to a long-term deal, and that there's a sufficient level of trust between Pioli and Cassel's agent to do the trade first, then the contract. There's also the chance that Cassel decides that $14.65M is enough to live on for the rest his life, and decides to roll the dice, play under the franchise tender in 2009 and see what kind of a year he has. A high-class problem, as Bill would say.

 

[jeffbiologist]

I think BBs need to move Cassel fast(to be a player in free agency)limited the amount of suitors because of the negotiations that would be needed for a long term deal. Cassel is not stupid, he is going to get paid so I am sure his agent has coached him up. The Vrabel deal included smells highly of collusion, and its my bet we havent finished dealing with KC this year. Look for them to trade vetran cast offs to us post draft for low round/future picks.

 

[eom]

The most surprising aspect of the trade to me was the fact that MC wasn't signed to a long-term contract before the trade. My guess is that Cassel's agent made it clear to Pioli what it will take to sign Cassel to a long-term deal, and that there's a sufficient level of trust between Pioli and Cassel's agent to do the trade first, then the contract. There's also the chance that Cassel decides that $14.65M is enough to live on for the rest his life, and decides to roll the dice, play under the franchise tender in 2009 and see what kind of a year he has. A high-class problem, as Bill would say.

when the cba expires who knows what the financial landscape will look like.
maybe they're simply hammering out a deal right now, or maybe cassel is gambling on a bigger payday in an uncapped nfl.

 

[mgteich]

As I posted a month go, I would have expected Belichick to give Cassel and his agent permission to try to work out a long-term deal with other teams and have the teams come to the patriots with their offer to the patriots. Cassel's agent and the other teams would know what the patriots were loking for in compensation, but the final decision would be the patriots. Cassel's agent would indicate which teams had presented acceptable offers to Cassel. In this way, as I have continuously said, Cassel would have maximized the value to the team, although perhaps not to himself. If he has confidence in himself, he could and did take the $14.6M, buy an insurance policy, and can consider a long-term deal at a later time, perhaps after the season.

Apparently, the team's alternative was to not have Cassel as part of the decision-making process, other than to ask if for input that was of little use in making the deal. With Cassel not part of the process, a team would need to make a deal for Cassel with no long-term contract in place, thus limiting the teams in play plus limiting the compensation to the patriots.

ALTERNATIVES
1) The team didn't consider the above (not very likely).
2) The team presented the idea to Cassel's team and they didn't do anything with it, either refusing or not finding an acceptable deal.
3) The team decided very early with Pioli and decided not to try to get more. This could have been because Pioli made an early offer that had a time limit and the patriots accepted.

I find both options 2 and 3 to be very possible. I lean toward 3.

 

[eom]

yeah, people act like this just happened because the news just broke, but in reality, pioli was thinking about cassel's future prospects way back in october when he was still w/the pats.

I hope nobody believes this all just got cooked up overnight.

I would imagine when pioli went to kc this was one of the first things that came to mind.