Maybe, just maybe, BB realizes that he needs a better backup for Brady, especially with the less than lustrous Cassie becomming a FA next year. Tom has been hit hard and there is a chance that at some time in a season we'll really NEED someone who can play NFL QB well enough to let the players around him win the game.
It's all about W/L records and a good coach/GM should prepare EVERY position for potential adequate backup. Remember in the late 90s when Parcells had a really strong (ack!) Jets team and he lost VT early with NO viable backup? It was a pleasure to see the otherwise talented Jets team go down the tubes because of sub-par backup QB mistakes. BB was there and saw what happened to a SB contender.
Pretty much, in a nutshell. Not to mention, but I will:
Cassel, to the eye, looks like a college player who couldnt adapt to NFL speed. More than less, he gets happy feet, and his instinct is to run. Like a Bledsoe/Vick hybrid, except not as fleet of foot, or as accurate, or strong in the arm. Which equals to : Brady goes down, forget about managing games, this clownshoe will lose them, I have seen more than enough from this guy, in fact I think the 3rd stringer, as a rook last year, was better than Cassel.
I was patient with Rohan. Strong gun, big body like a linebacker, fast shoes, yeah... thing is that guy couldnt throw a short out to save his life, at a time where we didnt exactly stretch the field much, shoot that was our game; dinking and dunking. I was always surprized we kept that dude for as long as we did. He had a great year across the pond in NFL Europe, and then was cut, signed by another team and cut again.
I suspect Cassel will most likey find the same sports bar Davey did and join him for a nice cold mug of "Couldvebeen".
What boggles me most, are the fans that say that if Brady goes down, theres no chance of winning a superbowl. Maybe your right, thats what most fans thought back in 2001 when Bledsoe went down, good thing our scouts were on top of things and drafting talented potential back-up QBs, like Tom Brady.
Is O'Connell, or Gutierrez the next Tom Brady? I dont know
What I do know, from what I have seen thus far, Matt Cassel certainly isnt.
And one more thing, if we have learned nothing else from having one of the highest paid QBs in the league ($100 mill) Drew Bledsoe, and an ambitious scouting department who saw what no other team saw for 6 long rounds....
a very fahking talented back up QB, who would go on to be considered one of the very best in history.
Drating QBs is kinda a crapshoot.... they improved on Davey with Cassel, they one upped Cassel with Gutierrez, and I think they even did better this year.
Who knows.... if Brady goes down, maybe a guy like this could actually carry us.
THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING, IN BILL WE TRUST