If Cassel leads the Pats to the playoffs...

[ScottieC]

They won't tag him to keep him as a backup, they would tag him to trade him. And they would likely only do that if we make deep into the playoffs and he's playing very well and they know there is a sub substantial market for his services. The 2009 draft is projected to be weak at the position. That's another reason we took O'Connell in 2008. It's all about supply and demand. And value.

However, If they Tag him and he decides to stay.....well then we have a problem, a BIG F'n PROBLEM.

 

[BelichickFan]

However, If they Tag him and he decides to stay.....well then we have a problem, a BIG F'n PROBLEM.

Only if he has been so mediocre this year that we can't trade him. You're right that his contract is guaranteed once he signs the franchise offer. But we could trade that one year contract for very little if we just wanted to dump it. If he's basically crap this year we won't Franchise him. If he's a viable starter I would imagine we would knowing that, worst case, someone would give us something like a #5 pick and pay the one year salary to get that viable starter. Best case, of course, he kicks butt (unlikely) and we can a much better deal from a team wanting him long term.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

What is he pulling down now? I would think that his contract would have a provision in it to get paid more if he takes over as the starter no?

His salary was prescribed as the standard 4th year player salary when he signed his contract in 2005 - $580K. Some contracts have playing time incentives/escalators and some don't. Far as we know his as 7th rounder did not.


Off the top of my head Brady made around $275K as our starter in 2001...plus standard workout money and playoff share. He was scheduled to make $300K+ even after being named SB MVP in 2002 before signing his first extension.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

However, If they Tag him and he decides to stay.....well then we have a problem, a BIG F'n PROBLEM.

If they tag him and he'd rather forego a long term contract with more guaranteed money than the tag it would indicate a mental problem we've seen no hint of...

Again, they would not tag him unless he was playing at a level where he would be in strong demand in trade.

The Browns knew they could tag and trade (and control) Anderson or hit him with the highest RFA and get the prescribed compensation from among several teams desperate for a proven young starter. They extended him in that case because they were not ready to part with him and move on to Quinn. The decision may end up costing RAC his job, but that was probably on the line either way. Personally I said at the time I'd have sold high especially after his somewhat erratic final performance which resulted in missing the playoffs...

We know a lot more about the guy coming back to replace Cassel in 2009... The only reason for us to extend Cassel would be if we felt Brady might not be ready to start the 2009 season. And they would only do that if they could work a deal that he was happy with and we could trade in 2010 without significant dead cap vs. what we'd get for him in trade. Cassel won't sign a backup extension for a couple of million - he wants to start. And we wouldn't offer him a starters extension because we have arguably the GOAT returning to that position.

 

[godef]

would you hold on to him as the successor to Brady or would you trade him in the off-season? If he succeeds this year, as I said, what type of trade value could we get for him?

Your thoughts.

I'd say you hang on to him if you could, but I wouldn't blame him for going somewhere where he'd continue to be a starter. If so I'd say "God bless him" and in the meantime, O'Connell will have had a year in the Patriots system..

 

[NEPatriot]

"If" is not a right word and Cassel doesn't have alternative if he wants to keep his NFL career.

This season is very important to him. If he fails to deliver, none NFL teams wants him as a QB. Why do you want to hire a guy who is not reliable and dependable?

As a pats fan, I expect him to play well and lead us to victory. He needs to show us some TD passes in the next games. If we continue doing running games and relying on D to do the job while he doesn't have any TD passes, we are going to loose.

 

[O.Z.O.]

First of all, unless guys start dropping like flies, the playoffs are a given.

Second, he's better then the current QB situation in-

KC
TB
Mia
MN
Det
Chi
SF
Balt
TN
Wash

Cleveland remains a question mark because we don't know anything about Brady Quinn yet. After this year I'd throw the Jesters in there too. The guy is leaving after this year and will be starting for somebody next year. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see a Trent Green situation occur here.

(for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, in 1998 Trent Green was with the 'Skins, and took over for Gus Frerrote after the dumbass head-butted a wall during the 2nd game of the season. Green had a Pro-Bowl caliber season, throwing for 23 TDs against 11 picks, completing 55% of his passes for over 3400 yards. Green left that offseason for the Rams in '99)

 

[NEPatriot]

Second, he's better then the current QB situation in-

KC
TB
Mia
MN
Det
Chi
SF
Balt
TN
Wash

1-These mentioned teams will not make to the play off.
2- Do you know how bad their QB are?

It's bad comparison.

 

[ivanvamp]

franchise and then trade him.

brady still has 4 or so years left and more if he wants since he relys on things other then a canon arm, so i dont think the successor to brady is even in the nfl at this point.

if he goes to the playoffs, which he should, then there will be someone out there willing to buy high.

No way the Pats should franchise Cassel...that would guarantee him, what, top 5 money? No other team is going to take on that contract. So the Pats would be stuck with that contract...for a backup. Bad, bad move.

Maybe the transition tag could work, b/c I suspect their financial obligation to him would be far less. If Cassel takes us to the playoffs, the Pats should say, "Thank you very much, Matt. Good luck in Minnesota!" And O'Connell becomes the backup.

 

[NEPatriot]

If Cassel takes us to the playoffs, the Pats should say, "Thank you very much, Matt. Good luck in Minnesota!" And O'Connell becomes the backup.

At least, he will get big offers from other teams if he doesnt want to be TB backup QB. If he fails, his NFL career is over.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The best somewhat probable outcome is that he plays decently and the Pats make him an RFA and we can ask for a 1st and a 3rd. Depending on just how well he really did, the Pats can then settle for whatever, most probably somewhat less than a 1st and a 3rd.

Lots of reasons to root for Matt Cassel, the guy that 75% of the posters surveyed in a Poll here vehemently wanted CUT less than a month ago.

 

[O.Z.O.]

1-These mentioned teams will not make to the play off.
2- Do you know how bad their QB are?

It's bad comparison.

MN, Chi, and TN might, despite how poor their current QB situations are.

as far as how bad their current QBs are-

KC- Croyle and Huard are both out, they're down to their 3rd guy
TB- Brian Griese
Mia- Noodle Arm
MN- some guy who should be playing WR or returning kicks
Det- Kitna(well, to be fair, can't blame him for that situation)
Chi- you're kidding, right?
SF- O'Sullivan/Smith
Balt- starting a rookie(not some guy who's been backing up a future HOFer for the last few years, a guy in his first season)
TN- Vince Young
Wsh- Jason Campbell (I watch him every week, Cassel is better)

 

[Miguel]

The best somewhat probable outcome is that he plays decently and the Pats make him an RFA and we can ask for a 1st and a 3rd.

FWIW - Cassel will be an UFA after this season.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

My 2 cents on why I avoid these forecasts/scenario analysis:

I learnt early to live in the present and not spend (waste? ) time thinking or speculating about things that are beyond my control - which fits so well into BB's mantra of focusing on just this week's game and not be concerned what happens after that.

Initially I thought I am just too simplistic to follow that kind of a attitude; I mean, what fun is there as a fan to just focus on Miami and not look ahead? But the more I learnt to ignore/analyze the fascinating possibilities of what the future beholds for our team and what all we could achive, I realized that I am able to handle the emotions of each week far better. For example: I was devasted when Brady went down but was surprised to see how quickly I learnt to keep that aside and focus on how MC is doing.

And, it dawned to me that by keeping my hopes of another unbeated season + SB champion at the back burner, I had effectively tuned myself to tackle the adversities better.

What crap! Sorry guys, I woke up a bit early this morning and had early morning hangover. Please ignore my philosophical rant.

I understand that fans are free to speculate and voice about anything under the sun and fully support it. So, please don't mistake my post as a knock on those responding to this thread.

GO PATS!! and have a nice day!

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

FWIW - Cassel will be an UFA after this season.

Compensation pick then. Maybe a 7th?

 

[Miguel]

No, but I would like to lock him up through next year in case Brady's knee or foot does not fully recover. We have plenty of cap room, and paying him $6 mil for this year and next is cheap insurance for not looking like the Vikings.

As it stands right now, Cassel will be an UFA after this season and 2010 will be uncapped which means that if he agrees to your deal he will be an RFA after the 2009 season. In 2010 it will take 6 accrued seasons, not 4, to be an UFA.

I just can not see Cassel agreeing to a deal that may make him an RFA in 2010 when he is weeks away from being an UFA in 2009.

 

[Pats726]

As it stands right now, Cassel will be an UFA after this season and 2010 will be uncapped which means that if he agrees to your deal he will be an RFA after the 2009 season. In 2010 it will take 6 accrued seasons, not 4, to be an UFA.

I just can not see Cassel agreeing to a deal that may make him an RFA in 2010 when he is weeks away from being an UFA in 2009.

That would be dumb...and odd situations like that I am sure will pop up all over the place..not much has been going on with the CBA...not a peep about the NFLPA post Upshaw...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

As it stands right now, Cassel will be an UFA after this season and 2010 will be uncapped which means that if he agrees to your deal he will be an RFA after the 2009 season. In 2010 it will take 6 accrued seasons, not 4, to be an UFA.

I just can not see Cassel agreeing to a deal that may make him an RFA in 2010 when he is weeks away from being an UFA in 2009.

I agree it would take more than a one year deal to pique his interest in not rolling the dice for a potential bonefide starters contract in 2009. But the fact that he is potentially 4 months worth of a few weeks away yet from being a UFA in 2009 could be a mitigating factor in a decision. Of course that works both ways. Not sure Cleveland is thrilled they were able to talk Anderson into a 3 year deal right about now...

There are going to be bumps (and potential bruises) along the road to that next contract. Anderson hasn't looked nearly as good since the last weeks of the 2007 season when the league seemed to be catching up with him. Which is why after waiting that long I said then they should have gone the RFA route and either had him cheap or sold high. We don't have that option with Cassel unless we manage to create it. Which is why I would at least take a shot at due diligence by trying to see if it could be achieved while they have the long season risk factor to use as leverage.

If they don't I'm fine with either a tag and trade if he plays really well into the playoffs or thanking him for outperforming his draft position for 4 years and providing tremendous value already in that respect. Because while **** can happen I'm fairly confident based on what we know thus far that Tommy will be ready to go week 1 of 2009.

I think it's not out of the question that he might take a deal that guarantees him several million between now and 2009 if it implicitly guarantees him (say via a prohibitive 2010 roster bonus in 2010 that he wouldn't sneeze at either...) entering the FA market in the potentially uncapped bonanza season.

Say for argument sake he gets $5M in signing bonus next month for a 3 year extension (tacked on to being signed through 2008) through 2011 with another $1.5M in guaranteed salary for 2009 and a roster bonus of $1M due on September 1. That's almost $8M over 2 seasons with projected cap hits of $1.7M in 2008 (up $1.25M over his current cap hit for this season) and $2.25-3.25M for 2009 position insurance. (Dead cap if traded before 2009 season $3.75M spread over 2 seasons as we draft with the picks you bring in...). Add a roster bonus of $5M and a guaranteed salary of $2M for 2010 and more of the same for 2011 (none of which he will ever see here unless something thoroughly unthinkable happened in which case you're getting more than chump change), toss in a few performance/playing time escalators for good measure and you got a 3 year $20M deal that could be worth $25M with escalators but is really likely a 2 year $7.5M and your on to your life as a highly sought after QB via trade to some team who will extend you with a double digit signing bonus of thier own in 2010.

PS Matt Schaub managed to get to his next big deal as a starter without undue exposure. Everyone laughed at Atlanta for screwing up that one given what happened to Vick just weeks later. Only problem is once he started starting regularly, Matt got hurt. Luckily for him he had signed a new starters deal with Houston before that transpired. But how many starts did it take before he was injured? Not nearly as many as this Matt is penciled in for over the next 18 weeks or so god willing without the insurance of a contract for 2009 and beyond... just saying.

 

[BradyManny]

At the very least, he'll help us get a comp pick out of it. I know that's not what people want to hear, but its something. And if he plays at a serviceable level for this season for us, that's good in its own right.