Perspective

[BTTA]

Thoughts:

1. Trades in the NFL have three components: players, draft picks, and cap space. Cap space is traded from team to team, just like players. "Fairness" and "equal value" in terms of players are obsolete concepts. Cap space is a strategic resource that can only be valued in the context of a team's long term plans and the upcoming marketplace.

2. For anyone not involved in the Pat's internal conversations about building the team can't have an informed, intelligent opinion about any the merits of any trade or player transaction. There is just too much complexity involved. We like to sit out here and make judgments but ultimately are just making ourselves look silly.

3. KC has lots of athletes and lots of cap space, and is in need of veteran experience. The Pats have lots of veteran experience, and need athletes and cap space. It just makes sense.

4. The team had no chance of winning a Super Bowl with Cassel on the roster at that price. So you do what you have to do.

5. We all know that to win a Super Bowl in the coming years, this team needs to get much faster on defense. Every player who is earning big money and who will be slowing down in the near future will be gone, or be taking a major pay cut, if at all possible. The cap hits and difficulty finding quality replacements may protect some, like Seymour, Green, and Thomas.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Thoughts:

1. Trades in the NFL have three components: players, draft picks, and cap space. Cap space is traded from team to team, just like players. "Fairness" and "equal value" in terms of players are obsolete concepts. Cap space is a strategic resource that can only be valued in the context of a team's long term plans and the upcoming marketplace.

2. For anyone not involved in the Pat's internal conversations about building the team can't have an informed, intelligent opinion about any the merits of any trade or player transaction. There is just too much complexity involved. We like to sit out here and make judgments but ultimately are just making ourselves look silly.

3. KC has lots of athletes and lots of cap space, and is in need of veteran experience. The Pats have lots of veteran experience, and need athletes and cap space. It just makes sense.

4. The team had no chance of winning a Super Bowl with Cassel on the roster at that price. So you do what you have to do.

5. We all know that to win a Super Bowl in the coming years, this team needs to get much faster on defense. Every player who is earning big money and who will be slowing down in the near future will be gone, or be taking a major pay cut, if at all possible. The cap hits and difficulty finding quality replacements may protect some, like Seymour, Green, and Thomas.

no chance of winning the SB?

this trade will be judged by what they do with the picks and who they get.

 

[Theplayer]

no chance of winning the SB?

this trade will be judged by what they do with the picks and who they get.

we probably won't know for a few years if it was a good trade

 

[JoeSixPat]

Thoughts:

1. Trades in the NFL have three components: players, draft picks, and cap space. Cap space is traded from team to team, just like players. "Fairness" and "equal value" in terms of players are obsolete concepts. Cap space is a strategic resource that can only be valued in the context of a team's long term plans and the upcoming marketplace.

2. For anyone not involved in the Pat's internal conversations about building the team can't have an informed, intelligent opinion about any the merits of any trade or player transaction. There is just too much complexity involved. We like to sit out here and make judgments but ultimately are just making ourselves look silly.

3. KC has lots of athletes and lots of cap space, and is in need of veteran experience. The Pats have lots of veteran experience, and need athletes and cap space. It just makes sense.

4. The team had no chance of winning a Super Bowl with Cassel on the roster at that price. So you do what you have to do.

5. We all know that to win a Super Bowl in the coming years, this team needs to get much faster on defense. Every player who is earning big money and who will be slowing down in the near future will be gone, or be taking a major pay cut, if at all possible. The cap hits and difficulty finding quality replacements may protect some, like Seymour, Green, and Thomas.

Howabout the perspective that this was never a situation in which Cassel was available to the highest bidder.

Cassel held some major cards here and could have blocked a trade to any team no matter how many draft picks they were offering to the Patriots.

I see so many fans speculating on how many other "bidders" there were for Cassel, obviously overlooking the fact that if Cassel decided he wanted to go to one team and one team only - i.e. the Chiefs with ample cap space to pay him and pay complementary players - that's where he was going to be traded.

 

[CoachK]

Thoughts:

1. Trades in the NFL have three components: players, draft picks, and cap space. Cap space is traded from team to team, just like players. "Fairness" and "equal value" in terms of players are obsolete concepts. Cap space is a strategic resource that can only be valued in the context of a team's long term plans and the upcoming marketplace.

2. For anyone not involved in the Pat's internal conversations about building the team can't have an informed, intelligent opinion about any the merits of any trade or player transaction. There is just too much complexity involved. We like to sit out here and make judgments but ultimately are just making ourselves look silly.

3. KC has lots of athletes and lots of cap space, and is in need of veteran experience. The Pats have lots of veteran experience, and need athletes and cap space. It just makes sense.

4. The team had no chance of winning a Super Bowl with Cassel on the roster at that price. So you do what you have to do.

5. We all know that to win a Super Bowl in the coming years, this team needs to get much faster on defense. Every player who is earning big money and who will be slowing down in the near future will be gone, or be taking a major pay cut, if at all possible. The cap hits and difficulty finding quality replacements may protect some, like Seymour, Green, and Thomas.

That's one of the most reasoned posts I've seen since "the trade" (that sent this board into a tizzy)

 

[patsfaninpa]

Another perspective to look at in this trade. Look at it from the other teams angle.
Most of these backup qb's have been disasters.

Rob Johnson - Beat you by 90yr old Doug Flutie.

AJ Feely - Nuff said.

Scott Mitchell - A decent year or two but then fell apart.

Duante Culpepper - Utter disaster in Miami.

Matt Schaub - NO final grade. But, it's taking him an awful long time to get it
together.

Matt Hassleback - Great move. But, they swapped firsts and GB got a 7th.
Not exactly a haul. I think this trade worked out good for the
team getting the qb. Was in 01. Then, these other teams started
to overpay. Scott Pioli is not dumb. He knows their track record.

 

[dhamz]

Perspective is easy on this one:

Mike Vrabel was going to be cut for salary cap purposes.
Matt Cassel was the back-up QB with a prohibitive cap charge which was going to prevent the team from making moves this offseason.

They dealt 2 guys who they didn't want on the roster anymore for the 34th pick overall. That is good value.

 

[stinkypete]

This is a business decision. Most teams would have cut Vrabel and let Cassel walk. The team got a chance to draft a Barwin or a Sintim or a Sean Smith in exchange for guys that the system dictated needed to go.

Solid value.