Forgive me if I say something doesn’t seem right about the deal sending Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for the 34th (second round) pick in April’s NFL Draft.
How can those two players, who were arguably two of the best on the team last year, be worth just a second round pick? Surely (sayeth the Pats fans), they were worth the #3 pick overall, right?
Here’s my theory. There is documented proof that many NBA and NHL teams are in dire financial straits (in fact, NBA teams couldn’t dump salaries fast enough at the trading deadline and many teams are taking loans from the league). Is it so far fetched, in this economy, to assume the NFL is immune? Maybe the Patriots just don’t feel the financial commitment to the 3rd pick is worth it right now.
But wait, you say… why not trade for that pick anyway – and then move it to another team in exchange for more picks later on? Because I’m not so sure the other teams want that pick either! That’s a lot of guaranteed money (during these times) to invest in one player from a less than stellar draft class who may never pan out.
Now, like I said, this is just a theory I devised while enjoying my wife’s wonderful banana bread this morning. It’s just as likely that there wasn’t a better deal on the table (don’t know if I believe that), or that Belichick did his buddy Scott Pioli a favor (somewhat likely), or that Belichick would rather have more of the so-called “value picks” in rounds 2,3, and 4 (most likely).
So now what? The defense is missing it’s anchor (as well as a suprise weapon on offense), and there’s little to no insurance if Tom Brady spends more time honeymooning than rehabbing. With so much salary cap spaced cleared, the most obvious answer is Ray Lewis… but Belichick has never been high on players like that. Of course, we said the same thing about Randy Moss, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
What do you think?
–SI
SportsCenter 5 Overtime Blog 
Just passing by.Btw, your website have great content!
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I can’t help but think that this has a lot more to do with the Patriots wanting to do the right thing as far as Cassel is concerned. Cassel stepped into some pretty big shoes and performed admirably for the team. He deserves to be a starting quarterback in the NFL (he’s better than over half of those playing the position today).
But the Patriots cannot afford to keep both Brady and Cassel, so they put Cassel under the franchise tag. That insures that he will get the payoff that he deserves next season, and they waited to see who took the bait. With no teams clamoring to trade for Cassel the Patriots used their leverage with Scott Pioli to get Cassel a starting QB role. They even tossed in Matt Vrabel to sweaten the deal (you could even argue that Vrabel alone is worth the second round pick and that Cassel was the tag along on the deal).
The bottom line is that this is clearly a big Win-Win deal for everyone. The Chiefs get a great QB in Cassel and some real leadership on defense with Vrabel, and the Patriots free up salary cap room to make some additional deals in free agency. Hey, if Belicheck can pick up Brady and Cassel in late round picks, whose to say that a second round pick in his hands isn’t worth as much as some other people’s first round picks.
[…] of Clearwater. The Tampa Tribune and WXYZ-TV report the Coast Guard gothttp://blogs.usatoday.comPondering The Trade Of Cassel and Vrabel To Kansas CityForgive me if I say something doesn’t seem right about the deal sending Matt Cassel and Mike […]