Care to explain why you feel all this needs to get done prior to Matt being traded?
1. Arizona has Leinert, they are a non player
Clearly they have Leinert and they are a non-player, but Warner is a free agent and a team like the Jets might be intrigued by him, as well as others that are doing their due dilligence. Once Warner is signed with the Cards, the market will tighten up.
2. Who is to say the Vikings haven't already pitched their best offer to NE and were rebuffed or refused to beat the best current offer available to the Pats? And they A) did the same with Cleveland and resorted to Rosenfels or B) they like Rosenfels better than Anderson.
Hmmmm.... can't really respond to assumptions without using my own assumptions. Just want of those cases where we just aren't going to know till a later time.
3. The Titans have a bunch of money tied up in VY which probably limits their willingness to invest big money long term in another QB. And Tennessee clearly wants Collins back, but they also have a good shot at resigning Simms - who could be their starter next year (2010). I doubt they have any interest in Cassel.
This is the same situation as Warner in AZ. Collins is sure to sign in TEN and when he does, the market losses another acquireable QB. Interesting to see how they deal with Young when this all goes down.
4. Garcia has 0 impact on Cassel. Garcia will sign with a team looking for a stop gap not a long term solution. Cassel is a long term solution, therefore a team would explore the possibility of Cassel prior to signing Garcia - not the other way around.
I agree that teams would probably look at acquiring Cassel before signing an old vet that is coming off a poor season and offers no long term solution. Then again, it will be interesting to see how the market responds to Garcia and if the price of Cassel forces teams to re-evaluate what Garcia could do for their team based upon where that team is at, competitively.
5. The only way Mcnabb impacts Cassel is if the Eagles have worked out a deal to trade McNabb and then have a deal consumated with NE for Cassel and all this is based on trust and it has to be executed within minutes of FA opening. This seems highly unlikely. And if a team is hoping to get McNabb and go after Cassel as a fallback, then they are foolish. So, Cassel's situation doesn't have anything to do with McNabb, IMO.
I'm sure the media is creating more in the McNabb v. Eagles drama stemming from the benching. He'll stay in Philly as far as I see and when that is determined, than any teams thinking he is an acquireable option will look elsewhere.
6. Anderson would be a 2nd, 3rd etc.. option for any team interested in Cassel. A team trades for him if they A) don't like the price tag (including draft picks) for Cassel or B) don't want to get in a bidding war for him and remove themselves (which is basically the same as A).
Cost of the product my determine level of interest, agreed. Fact of the matter is, most likely any team that acquires him is going to be a team that could had used the services of Matt Cassel.
7. I think it is fairly obvious that not too many people consider either of them a top ten pick. A team would have to love them or not be willing to give up additional picks for Cassel or believe that they will fall to you near the 20's. I think this situation may remove a couple of teams from the mix, but ultimately has a minor impact on Cassel.
I'll hold off till their Pro Days to drop them too far. Based on last season, I don't think Stafford belongs in the first round, but he has hung around in the conversations and remains relevant. Neither were major participants at the Combine and the hype machines found other talent to talk about. If he can prove to be worth the 20th pick, DET may take him and not think twice about Matt Cassel.
I would be shocked if a deal isn't already done. IMO, this is why the Vikings have settled on Rosenfels. Obviously this is just speculation, but it would be mind numbing to think that they didn't pitch their best offer to the Pats for Cassel. To which the Pats replied by saying "we have an offer in place, here it is, can you beat it?". And obviously the contract negotiation with Cassel's agent surely plays a big part in it as well.
