Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

The key assumption is that Cassel really was serious when he said that if the Patriots franchise him, he'll be a Patriot in 2009 (i.e., the Patriots do not plan to trade him in 2009).

Signing bonus: $14.6M
2009 salary: $5M
2010 salary: $6.5M
2011 salary: $8M
2012 salary: $9.5M
4-year total: $43.6M

Here's why I think this might work, if they were serious:
(1) It gives Cassel more first-year money than the franchise tag (an extra $5M).
(2) If a new CBA restores the salary cap in 2010, the Patriots should be able to spread out the pain of the extra ~$11M in SB proration over two years, instead of one.
(3) If the salary cap goes away, a team would only have to cough up $25M over three years for Cassel.
(4) It doesn't completely solve the problem, but it does give the Pats an extra $5M or so in cap room, enough to resign three or four vets.

Thoughts?

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

id prefer to sign him for 2 years, but your deal would probably be the only type of 1+ year deal Cassel would be willing to sign. i have to think about whether or not i would be pleased with the deal, but at least it would give us a little more flexibility salary cap wise for this year

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

To me, this seems like the more likely scenario:

http://www.boscovs.com/wcsstore/bosc...2863pxf102.jpg

http://www.bradlands.com/art/weblog/sept11ticket.jpg

http://www.fruitlikeflowers.com/imag...bobofunnco.jpg

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/image/s_handshake3.jpg

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

i just dont understand why cassel would want to sign to be a four year backup when he could get the same money else where and be a starter.

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

Is the assumption that Cassel isn't interested in starting?

I'm not sure that's a correct assumption. He can get $25 million guaranteed if he goes to another team. Yes - $20 million is better than $14.65 million - but its not as good as $25 million or more.

People seem to forget that Cassel holds the cards now - he can block any trade, take the $14.65 million this year and then go into the FA market next year where he could easilly make that $25 million or more - with more teams likely interested since he won't require a high draft pick as compensation

That's about $40 million over two seasons. About $14 million more than your first two seasons - and of course his 2010 - 2012 salaries are not guranteed.

My guess is that Cassel's interested in starting this season and if the money's right, and the team is right, he'd allow the trade to go through and not block it... and if its not he stays here.

I guess I look at this more as what Cassel wants since he holds most of the cards - and not Belichick. Belichick likely has a plan - whether Cassel goes along with it is another matter.

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

Cassel does not hold the cards, and he can't block any trade.

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

I believe he can by not agreeing to a long term deal with the other club. Unless the trade was to another team just for this one year which I don't think another club would like, I think he does have quite a bit of leverage.

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

Absolute worst case ? Trade Cassel to, say, Minnesota for a 5th round pick. No brainer for Minnesota even if they don't know if they can re-sign him. And it still works for us, it gets the money off the books and lets us pick his destination. I'd prefer to get a 5th round pick from Minnesota than a 3rd round comp pick and have him playing for the Jets. We absolutely can trade him anywhere, we just wouldn't get that much for him; but by picking his destination we still win.

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

Cassel can't prevent any trade. What he can do is make the trade a pain in the ass by not agreeing to a contract. However, even if he did that, the Patriots could still trade him, and next year Cassel would still be a RFA, and stuck with the new team yet again. People putting forth the "It'd be too expensive" argument seem to forget that the Patriots and several other teams are carrying similar contracts already.

Re: Could this possibly be Belichick's plan for Cassel?
 

So what do they do with Brady? These are starting qb numbers.