ESPN: Cassel has accepted the franchise tender [merged]

[Deus Irae]

How is the tds misleading? Cassel is really the Hall of Fame qb not Brady?

1.) The offense wasn't the same

2.) The offensive line stunk until Neal got back

3.) Cassel needed time to get up to speed

 

[billdog3484]

How is the tds misleading? Cassel is really the Hall of Fame qb not Brady?

Wheeler. The amount of TDs is misleading for a few reasons

(1) we played much more conservative at the beginning of the season with Cassel (which opened up later)
(2) we are comparing a guy in the prime of his career vs. another guys first season
(3) Matt Cassel's production increased tremendously over the course of the season, so if you take the 2nd half of the season's numbers and multiply that by 2 the numbers will be better
(4) numbers dont always mean everything. Cassel showed he was a winner and made some great plays to win games (Jets game)
(5) Brady is coming off MAJOR surgery. Players are not always able to come back and be as good after such injuries


so....statistics, while important, are not everything.

 

[BradyManny]

1.) The offense wasn't the same

2.) The offensive line stunk until Neal got back

3.) Cassel needed time to get up to speed

All that's true, but the biggest reason for the disparity in TDs is Brady's a much better QB.

 

[billdog3484]

I wouldn't make that leap. Again, we've had this conversation, but take Brady's knee out of the equation. The Pats would hardly have enough money to sign their rookies right now w Cassel under contract.

i think we can make that leap. im confident we would be able to restructure some contracts to get under the cap

 

[swheeler23]

Cassel has not proven he can win in the playoffs. Maybe he is Tony Romo jr.

 

[billdog3484]

Cassel has not proven he can win in the playoffs. Maybe he is Tony Romo jr.

this is a very true point. it is impossible to predict this for Cassel

 

[PatsDeb]

Classic risk vs. reward scenario. The risk is high for the Pats now because of Brady's knee. The value for Cassel now is probably as high as it is going to get. Assuming Cassel gets traded before any preseason games are played, there is precious little chance for him to improve his stock...and a whole mess of situations where his stock can nosedive:

a) Market dries up due to free agency, draft, teams getting comfortable with what they have in-house, etc.
b) Cassel gets hurt in mini-camp or falling off the solid gold toilet he can now afford.
c) Teams spend money on other needs and can't afford a big contract for Cassel.

All true, but I still think this was done by BB with Cassel's agreement to give the Pats as much time as possible to evaluate Brady's knee (right now nobody knows if he'll be ready to go). I'd definitely agree that BB's plan is to trade Cassel (if possible) before any pre-season games are played. It'd be a pretty big disaster if Brady was just coming back and Cassel stunk up the preseason (ala 9 mos. ago) and there was no market for him. I am sure that BB is hoping, like the rest of us, that: 1) Brady will be fine and this will be evident by the start of mini-camps (or even better, the draft, but I don't see how that can happen); 2) There is already a tentative deal for Cassel out there somewhere that can be consumated, giving the Pats some good player(s) or pick(s).

It all seems a big, but unavoidable gamble. Or, maybe what others have said is true: there is a deal in place for Cassel to be announced as soon as it is legal and BB is gambling that Brady will be ready to go (or that O'Connell can handle the team for a while). Yikes. I can't believe it's the 2nd one, but who knows.

 

[Deus Irae]

All that's true, but the biggest reason for the disparity in TDs is Brady's a much better QB.

I've never bought that argument, at least not in its entirety. I think that makes a difference, but I also think that Cassel would have had 30+ if the Cassel of games 1-8 had been the Cassel of games 9-16. This Patriots offense with Moss and Welker is just that good.

 

[BradyManny]

Wheeler. The amount of TDs is misleading for a few reasons

(1) we played much more conservative at the beginning of the season with Cassel (which opened up later)
(2) we are comparing a guy in the prime of his career vs. another guys first season
(3) Matt Cassel's production increased tremendously over the course of the season, so if you take the 2nd half of the season's numbers and multiply that by 2 the numbers will be better
(4) numbers dont always mean everything. Cassel showed he was a winner and made some great plays to win games (Jets game)
(5) Brady is coming off MAJOR surgery. Players are not always able to come back and be as good after such injuries


so....statistics, while important, are not everything.

Sure, but if you go by DVOA, which weighs both level of competition and the second half of the season more than the first, Cassel was in the middle of the pack of QBs last season (20th amongst starters).

The stats issue goes both ways. I think if anything, Cassel's stats are inflated. I'm not trying to argue he's not a good quarterback, I'm just trying to put things in perspective. Its the main reason I argue for going with O'Connell at a 600K cap hit over Cassel at a 14+ milli cap hit. Cassel's too expensive to get enamored with.

 

[Deus Irae]

Cassel has not proven he can win in the playoffs. Maybe he is Tony Romo jr.

Brady's lost in a Super Bowl, and AFCCG and a Division round in his last 3 playoff appearances. I'm not sure what your point is here....

 

[swheeler23]

I've never bought that argument, at least not in its entirety. I think that makes a difference, but I also think that Cassel would have had 30+ if the Cassel of games 1-8 had been the Cassel of games 9-16. This Patriots offense with Moss and Welker is just that good.

Yes but if one or both of those guys get hurt can Cassel carry the team?

 

[jmt57]

Re: Report: Cassel has accepted the franchise tender (merged)

This sucks. Now the Patriots can not sign anyone of much value in free agency. 14 million is more then Brady ever made in one year. I thought the Patriots were team first.Cassel is not worth 14 million.

- Free agency doesn't start for three weeks.
- Brady still makes more money than Cassel.
- The Patriots are still team first; they have not become the Cowboys.
- The (NFL) market will determine how much Cassel makes.
- Cassel may or may not make $14 million next year.
- Please spend more time reading (and learning) and less time posting.

 

[swheeler23]

Re: Report: Cassel has accepted the franchise tender (merged)

- Free agency doesn't start for three weeks.
- Brady still makes more money than Cassel.
- The Patriots are still team first; they have not become the Cowboys.
- The (NFL) market will determine how much Cassel makes.
- Cassel may or may not make $14 million next year.
- Please spend more time reading (and learning) and less time posting.

I was asking questions to learn answers. JACK ASS!

 

[BradyManny]

I've never bought that argument, at least not in its entirety. I think that makes a difference, but I also think that Cassel would have had 30+ if the Cassel of games 1-8 had been the Cassel of games 9-16. This Patriots offense with Moss and Welker is just that good.

No doubt. Moss & Welker take this offense to another level. All the more reason to trade Cassel and assume you could replace him with O'Connell. The offense will be efficient as long as Moss and Welker are healthy and its only going to be deadly with Brady, thus, a 14+ million Matt Cassel is expendable, IMO.

 

[Deus Irae]

Yes but if one or both of those guys get hurt can Cassel carry the team?

If one or both of those guys gets hurt, can a rehabbing Brady carry the team?

 

[Brettlax3434]

If one or both of those guys gets hurt, can a rehabbing Brady carry the team?

yes. Best QB of all time.

 

[billdog3484]

Brady's lost in a Super Bowl, and AFCCG and a Division round in his last 3 playoff appearances. I'm not sure what your point is here....

i think hes right deus. playoffs are much different from the regular season, whether becuase you play better defenses, because theres more pressure, whatever. a lot of times players are the same, but a lot of times they rise or fall in the playoffs.

it could be a blessing in disguise that we didnt make the playoffs, where Cassel could have been pitiful and killed his value. OR, he could have come in and been the next Brady. hes an unknown playoff quantity.

its a very tough decision we have to make. but, both options are great (picks or keeping him)

 

[BPF]

This move had to be expected by the Patriots. They knew that if you flash $14.5 mil in front of a player who earned approx $520K last year that he and his agent would jump at the guarantee and sign it. So in my eyes the Pats were hoping for and expected this outcome. Now he is Patriots property and they have control, albeit not full control as far as a trade goes, of what happens next. If a trade is worked out I'm pretty sure Cassel would not balk at any team as long as a long term deal is in place and he is the starter both of which will happen if a team will pull the trigger and trade for him. In my eyes this makes a trade easier because there is one less moving part and the Pats knew they were not going to get two 1st Rd picks for him so what does this move really change? Nothing. I'm sure the Pats have a price in mind and it's multiple draft picks, a swap of 1's w/any team in the top 10 along with a 2,3 or 4 or a 1, 2 or 3.

On another note if you average what the Pats have paid Cassel since they drafted him counting this $14.5 mil it works out to an average of $3.207 mil, which is very high for a 7th Rd pick but not outrageous for a solid backup QB. Going forward obviously if they do keep him they would need to bring the average down to the $7-$8 mil range for it to work. Maybe the cba plays a big part of their thinking on this deal or maybe Cassel is truly insurance for Brady on a 1 yr deal.

 

[swheeler23]

If one or both of those guys gets hurt, can a rehabbing Brady carry the team?

Yes. If he is well enough to be out there. He has proven over the course of a career that he can win in the Nfl.

 

[BPF]

yes. Best QB of all time.

I love Brady as well and in my eyes he is the best of all time.