Pats place franchise tag on Cassel

[Luke]

BOSTON -- The New England Patriots placed the franchise tag on Matt Cassel on Thursday.

The move means the quarterback remains a free agent, but the Patriots can match any offer made by another team or allow him to sign with that team in exchange for two first-round draft picks.

If and when he signs the one-year franchise tag designation, worth $14.65 million for 2009, he will be under contract to the Patriots, who could keep him or trade him.

Cassel's stock soared last season after he took over for Tom Brady, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game. Cassel helped the Patriots to an 11-5 record, but they missed the playoffs.

One factor in the Patriots' decision on whether to keep two highly paid quarterbacks is Brady's progress from knee surgery and the prospects for him being ready for the start of next season.

"Matt has been a pleasure to coach his entire career and last season in particular, when his years of hard work and commitment resulted in a most impressive performance," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in a statement. "We look forward to working with Matt again in 2009."

David Dunn, Cassel's agent, did not return a call seeking comment.

Teams are allowed to place the franchise tag on one player per season. Without it, Cassel would have become an unrestricted free agent Feb. 27 and could have signed with any team without compensation to the Patriots. The period in which a team can designate a franchise player is Feb. 5-19.

The 26-year-old Cassel hadn't started a game in seven seasons -- four at Southern California and three after New England chose him in the seventh round of the 2005 draft. He also struggled while taking most of the snaps in the 2008 exhibition season. But when Brady went down midway through the first quarter of the Patriots 17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, Cassel responded.

He started the remaining 15 games and finished with 327 completions in 516 attempts (63.4 percent) for 3,693 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The yardage was the fourth most in the AFC and the completion percentage was the third best in team history.

Cassel made $520,000 last season.

If the Patriots keep Brady and Cassel, they would have two quarterbacks taking up nearly 25 percent of the team's salary cap of $123 million for 2009. Brady's cap charge will be $14.62 million, although his actual salary for the year is $5 million with a $3 million bonus for making the roster.

Cassel is the fifth player in Patriots history to be designated a franchise player. The others were kicker Adam Vinatieri in 2002 and 2005, defensive back Tebucky Jones in 2003 and cornerback Asante Samuel in 2007. The Patriots waited until the last day to place the tag on all but Samuel, doing it six days earlier.

In 2002, the Patriots lifted the tag after they reached a multiyear agreement with Vinatieri. But he played under the tag in 2005 and then left as a free agent for the Indianapolis Colts in 2006. In 2003, the Patriots traded Jones to the New Orleans Saints for three draft picks.

In 2007, Samuel held out of training camp until the Patriots agreed not to apply the tag to him again in 2008 if he played in 60 percent of the defensive snaps or they won 12 games in 2008. Both conditions were met and he left after that season for the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent.

[Luke]

Figured they'd do this or just resign him

[Chico1856]

I can't believe NE plans on keeping both at those prices. If Brady is healthy, we will see Cassel traded. It will be interesting to see if KC tries ot get him. Minnesota needs a QB as well, and may make a play for Cassel.

San Fran seems a likely spot for him to go, or they could make a play for Brady. Maybe Gore and a #1 pick.

[Luke]

I can't believe NE plans on keeping both at those prices. If Brady is healthy, we will see Cassel traded. It will be interesting to see if KC tries to get him. Minnesota needs a QB as well, and may make a play for Cassel.

San Fran seems a likely spot for him to go, or they could make a play for Brady. Maybe Gore and a #1 pick.

Gore and a number one pick? Thats way too much for either of these guys .Gore is most of San Frans offense so they wont let him go. Plus I have read San Fran wants Vick

Minn does need a QB but they'll probably waste another 2 or 3 years on Tavaris Jackson

KC has the 3rd pick in the draft and will take Sanchez .

I really dont see anything wrong with what they are doing. Sure they are going to spend 25% of the salary cap this year on two QB's but it guarantees that you have a QB next year that can take you to the playoffs.A good QB is worth 25% to me. If they keep Cassel and send Brady away Cassel may have only been a one hit wonder and they go 5-11. If they send Cassel away and Brady has problems with his knee there goes another season down the drain.

Yes it is alot of money but for one year I think its the right decision but thats only my opinion

[Chico1856]

KC has the 3rd pick in the draft and will take Sanchez .

Just my opinion, but KC's new GM will continue to be a value drafter, and will either grab a stud defender with the #3 pick, or more likely trade down and pick up draft picks. With the Arizona OC now the Chiefs HC, look for the Chiefs to make a run at Warner if he is not Guaranteed to start in Zona in his new contract. QB was not the weakest part of the Chiefs team last year, I can see them trading down, especially if Stafford is still on the board, perhaps with the Bears, Bucs, or Vikings, all of whom would like to improve at QB.



Wondering who my Redskins will go after, love to see them get better in the trenches.

[Mr. IWS]

I can't believe NE plans on keeping both at those prices. If Brady is healthy, we will see Cassel traded. It will be interesting to see if KC tries ot get him. Minnesota needs a QB as well, and may make a play for Cassel.

San Fran seems a likely spot for him to go, or they could make a play for Brady. Maybe Gore and a #1 pick.

Nice call Chico.

He just got traded to KC.

Pioli traded for Vrabel yesterday too. Trying to build Patriots part 2.

[Chico1856]

great value for KC, NE gains about 20 million in cap room, but could have gotten better draft picks one would think. Ray Lewis to NE?

The Kansas City Chiefs have acquired quarterback Matt Cassel from New England for their second-round draft pick, a league source confirmed. Speculation was that the Chiefs surrendered a first-round pick in this year's draft, but that is inaccurate said the source. He said the Chiefs gained linebacker Mike Vrabel and Cassel for the 34th pick overall. Wow. (from cbssportsline.com)

[Luke]

Great call Chico just saw the gave Cassel the boot, I mean traded him


We'll see how good Brady's knee is now

[Chico1856]

I gotta believe they have heard great news on the Brady front to pull the trigger. I expect to see the Patriots make a splash in free agency soon.

Great foresight there Chico, they also just splashed the FA market and picked up Fred Taylor. Any chance you can tell us who will win the Super Bowl next season so we can get some futures money.

Good work my friend.

[Chico1856]

Talk radio here is speculating an attempt for Julias (sp) Peppers.

I am surprised they didn't try to trade SU for him w/ cassel if that was to be the case. I can see them going after Ray Lewis, and moving A.Thomas or Mayo to OLB. Mayo started 11 games in college at OLB.

[Chico1856]

The Denver Broncos may have seriously damaged their relationship with quarterback Jay Cutler.

A source close to the situation confirmed the Broncos were trying to acquire quarterback Matt Cassel from the New England Patriots by dangling Cutler, their Pro Bowl quarterback.

The trade talk infuriated Cutler, who now wants to leave the Broncos.

The source said the proposed trade was a three-way deal that would have sent Cassel to Denver to reunite with former Patriots offensive coordinator and new Denver head coach Josh McDaniels, Cutler to Tampa Bay and compensation from Tampa Bay to New England.

Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel were traded Saturday to Denver's AFC West rival Kansas City for a second-round pick.

A source close to the situation told ESPN.com that the Broncos pursued the trade because McDaniels wanted to be reunited with Cassel, who excelled under McDaniels last season as an injury replacement for Tom Brady.

In the aftermath of the trade Saturday, Cutler asked permission to find his own trade partner but was denied by the Broncos, according to the source. Cutler is still hopeful he will be traded because he feels betrayed by McDaniels, the source said.

The source said Denver is no longer interested in dealing Cutler, who made the Pro Bowl in 2008, his second full season as a starter. The source said Tampa Bay, Detroit and Chicago could be possible destinations if Cutler gets his way and is traded. The source pointed out that until Cutler heard about the trade talks Saturday, he was completely happy playing for McDaniels and being in Denver.

It may be difficult for Denver to trade Cutler now because there are no other quality quarterbacks available. It would be silly to trade him to the Lions for the No. 1 overall pick and try to draft Georgia's Matthew Stafford or USC's Mark Sanchez. Neither of those players is a known commodity, while Cutler has blossomed into one of the NFL's better quarterbacks.

Denver has to regain Cutler's trust immediately or this could turn into one of the NFL's uglier situations.

The source said that while Denver hopes to smooth the situation over, Cutler probably will seek to depart Denver as a restricted free agent in two years. Cutler signed a six-year deal with the Broncos after he was drafted with the No. 11 overall pick in 2006.

The source said Cutler was hurt by the news that McDaniels wanted to start his Denver tenure with Cassel and not him.

"The relationship has been tarnished," the source said. "I think it's beyond repair."

Cutler expressed displeasure when Denver fired coach Mike Shanahan in December. However, he has been publicly supportive of McDaniels and had several good meetings with the coach in the weeks since McDaniels took over. The source said Cutler was confused by the trade talk.

"It's like a knife to Jay's heart," the source said. "It will be hard for him to get past this."

McDaniels will be able to get past this issue, but it may take some time. The Broncos sold McDaniels' hiring as a chance for Cutler to flourish. Seven weeks later, the pairing has taken a sudden and potentially disastrous turn.

[Mr. IWS]

Cutler is a fuckin crybaby. McNabb deals with this shit every day.

[Chico1856]

Peppers Heading to NE
Monday, March 16, 2009


The Offseason Is Here In New England
The NFL Network is reporting that the Patriots are poised to land Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers, adding to what has already been a busy offseason of free agent moves. According to the report the deal will hinge on the second-round pick (34th overall) they received from the Chiefs on Feb. 28. Both teams are reportedly hoping to complete the deal at some point between the March 22-25 NFL owners meetings and the start of the draft on April 25. The free agent had the franchise tag placed on him by Carolina, and has a one-year contract worth $16.68 million. Should he land in New England most reports say he'll be converted to outside linebacker in the Patriots 3-4 defense.

[Mr. IWS]

I read this today also. Patriots are no joke with personell moves.