Most of the criticisms leveled at my "plan" have been more than fair. If I could change my original post now, it seems the signing of Mewelde Moore and Wes Welker as RFAs in 2007 may be prohibitively expensive in draft picks. Therefore I would pencil Faulk and T. Brown back in for 2007. In 2008 I would attempt to sign both Moore and Welker as unrestricted free agents, and wave goodbye to Faulk and T. Brown.
People underestimate the potential trade value of Cassel (Thank you MoLewis for correcting my spelling- Cassel with 1 L) as trade bait. Seattle traded the equivalent of the #33 pick in the draft for former 6th rdr Matt Hasselbeck, who had barely played a down behind Favre. In 1995 Jacksonville traded a 3rd and 5th rdr to GB for Mark Brunell, a 5th rd pick in 1993 who had barely played a down behind Favre. After Cassel plays well in the preseason again, and a few injuries and other QB debates begin raging in places like Chicago, GB, Detroit and Minnesota, either this season or next Cassel WILL net the Pats a 1st day pick (even though Ryan the Colts fan, with his deep grasp of the Qb position, disagrees- BTW, isn't he late for another marathon sex session with his Peyton Manning bobble head doll?).
To those who took issue with the fact I only listed 51 players on my roster for 2007... the list was not meant to be a complete roster, which is why it fell under the heading KEY PLAYERS IN 2007. Similarly, I have KEY PLAYERS IN 2008 below that, in which the roster is barely fleshed out but for starters and obvious backups.
As for the hangup most have with my suggestion that, although an impossibility due to Colvin's cap hit, I would rather keep TBC over Colvin... Neither is a starter next year according to my plan (Adalius Thomas and Vrabel would be the starting OLBs) and my feeling is that Colvin would have trouble accepting a demotion to a back-up role, and TBC would not. Also, Colvin will be making too much money for a rotational backup player. I do not feel that TBC is a better all-around player than Colvin, just better suited to a backup role. In any case, Colvin is going nowhere so the point is moot.