Two things that will "guarantee" the Pats franchise Cassel

[ctpatsfan77]

That will be the justification for the tag whether its the case or not.

Using the tag just to stop a player from going to a rival or to co-opt a draft pick is not in keeping with the intent of the rule.

Actually, the intent of the rule was to give the owners something to get them to agree to reducing free agency from six years to four.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

(1) Silly. Cassel is the QB that he is regardless of if he leads the Pats to a post-season victory. If he even gets a chance to depends on how Favre plays. Pats will franchise him or not, but whether Cassel wins a playoff game will not be the deciding factor, and certainly not a "guarantee." You are confusing guarantee with opinion.

I put it in quotes for a reason, and I explained that I didn't mean it as a literal guarantee.

(2) Sillier. So the Pats franchise him. THey haven't stopped the Jets from getting him, just delayed it a year. Next year Cassel is a FA and the Jets sign him if they want.

I said they'd apply the franchise tag, not that they'd keep him under it. But this way they make it unlikely that Cassel ends up a Jet.

Is this how far Cassel has come? That he is the only good QB in the NFL? That the only way a team is a threat to the Pats is if they get Cassel? And that Cassel is so good that a team that gets him is better than the Pats with Brady?

I didn't say that. But I don't think anyone else available this year has a better chance of being a long-term solution at QB for a franchise.

And if Cassel was so good, what about Gute? Didn't you guarantee that GUte would have a better career than Cassel?

Somebody guaranteed that, but it sure as heck wasn't me.

 

[hallfamebrady]

Although I think Cassel has played great this year, Tunescribe is correct on this point. How many QB's have Moss and Welker on the receiving end and Jabbar as a third receiver.

Wherever Cassel ends up, he will not be as good as he was as a Patriot. Mark it down.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Although I think Cassel has played great this year, Tunescribe is correct on this point. How many QB's have Moss and Welker on the receiving end and Jabbar as a third receiver.

Pennington has been good this year and look what he had to work with....I don't think Cassel has played great because of Welker and Moss, but he has played great with Welker and Moss.

 

[hallfamebrady]

I think the complaints would come from the NFLPA, not the individual franchises. I see a similar situation to MLB where the union tries to step in if a player takes an undervalued contract. The union and ownership are at odds on a number of issues and this issue could be a flare up point.

I understand, but don't think there's much reason for concern. Teams need/value QBs no matter what the CBA.

 

[dtbrks]

Here's the way I look at it.

Cassel is a top 10 QB in this league. He may even be top 5.

I really like cassel, but I don't think he is a top 5 QB in this league, not yet anyway. Maybe he will become one, but he has only played 16 games in his career. While he has proven a lot, I think he has more to prove.

I do think the pats franchise him and trade him for a number 2 (plus another 2 or 3 the following year). I hope they get more.

 

[groundgame]

.....And in what way would we be "misusing" the tag? We can EASILY argue that we're unsure of Brady's health (at the time it's applied, which is February, not long from now) even though it's exceedingly likely that we will have all the internal medicals to give us comfort with trading Cassel....







Good point, because even in February 2009, we are still not out of the woods even if Brady's knee seems fine. Though it is not common, a re-infection in the knee can occur after a series of months with no symptoms.