If you go into advanced edit you can change your thread title... maybe "Does Cassell need permission to seek a trade?"
In answer to your question, the answer is "yes - technically" - when he signed the tender he gave up the right to seek out deals himself.
That doesn't mean that the Patriots's aren't actively shopping him - and that they need to have teams come to them.
Nor does it mean that the Patriots haven't given Cassel a green light to engage in discussions. They can do that and I'd be surprised if they haven't given him that green light.
Cassel, after all, needs to be able to talk contract terms with teams - if they can't agree on a contract there's little sense in the Patriots arranging trade terms.
I'd assume that before Cassel signed the tender his agent let every team know ballpark contract numbers he's seeking - and the Pats have let every team know what types of trade value they expect in return. I highly doubt the Patriots have any interest in blocking further discussions between Cassel and teams.
But the bottom line is that BOTH Cassel and the Patriots need to agree to the trade. Either one can block any move.
i was one of those who was strongly for a trade. but i will say this i am a little more worried because i did think a deal would be done by now. i am not panicking but i just thought it'd be done by now
This is true for a player that has not signed the franchise tender but is not correct in this case. Now that Cassel has signed the tender he is like any player under a one-year contract. He cannot have negotiate with other teams without the Patriots permission and he can be traded to anybody with or without his consent and without a long-term deal (although most trading partners would likely want to have such a deal in place).