It smells like there might be a lot more to the Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs deal than simply a benign "undisclosed" draft pick.
New England is locked up tight as a drum this afternoon. There is no conversation going out which is a sure harbinger that there are bigger dominoes wobbling.
My speculation? Since Vrabel is only in KC and his acquisition hasn't been officially declared, he is merely a sidebar in the deal. The holdup - and silence - is being caused by something else that's taking place and my guess is that the something else is negotiations between Matt Cassel's agent David Dunn and the Chiefs GM Scott Pioli.
Cassel, of course, is the franchised Patriots quarterback who's due to make $14.6 million this year if he stays with the Patriots. If New England deals Cassel, he comes off their books, clearing cap space.
And that has me thinking the undisclosed pick is the third overall pick in this draft.
So it may well be Cassel and Vrabel to the Chiefs for the third overall pick and - likely - another later round pick. The financial end of this is what makes it a solid deal for the Pats. Between Cassel and Vrabel, there's almost $20 million in cap space getting cleared. Vrabel would have been a free agent after this year so the Pats are going to get something for him they wouldn't have otherwise.
Wouldn't the Pats want to avoid the third overall pick and the money outlay for an unproven player that comes with it? Not necessarily. They will still win financially in 2009 even adding the third overall pick because of the money they clear with Vrabel and Cassel leaving. And they'll have a good player from that spot going forward (presumably).
So who replaces Vrabel? Hmmmm. The Patriots liked Jonathan Vilma coming out of Miami. He's on the market. And so is Ray Lewis. Would they be fits at outside linebacker where Vrabel played predominantly? It will be interesting to see. And to see if this goes down as I'm suspecting.
