Analysts opine on Cassel, the franchise tag

Quick question - okay, so Cassel is an unrestricted free agent (short of the probable franchise tag)... say they didn't franchise him, and he signed with another team for, let's say, Asante Samuel money. What sort of compensatory pick do you think the Patriots would get for that, given that everyone kind of assumes that we'll end up with a late third for Asante?

Mike,

In your opinion, what teams could possibly make a strong push to trade for Cassel and which teams aren't too bad at QB but possibly intregued with making a change due to mediocrity?

re: Jim
Aren't comp picks limited to 3rd round at the highest? With a franchise tag I think you can clearly demand a #1 and a second performance based pick (1-3 or 2-4) in the following year's draft. So if i am right about upper limit of comp pick; it would be stupid not to franchise unless you couldn't work a trade soon enough, absolutely dont have the cap space wihout losing someone of more value or he was willing to extend with the pats (unlikely).

Compensatory picks are limited to "add ons" at the end of the 3rd round, or at the end of rounds 4 through 7. They don't go any higher than the third round. And moreover, you're not guaranteed to get a pick just because you lost a high-profile free agent (the league has to decide that you've lost more quality free agents than you've signed in that particular offseason, or something like that...not exactly sure). Also, the level of draft pick (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th rounders) is determined by a formula based on the salary that the departing free agent received when he signed with another club, and how much playing time/success he had during that season.

In the case of Asante Samuel, everything is pointing to the Pats receiving the highest level of compensatory pick from the league, which would be a 3rd rounder, because Asante's contract was a big one, and he made the Pro Bowl this year for Philly.

But next year, who knows? If the Pats sign a guy like Suggs from the Ravens, for instance, that may cancel out some other team's signing of Cassel when it comes to determing the compensatory picks in 2010.

Franchising him is likely the only way to "guarantee" that the Pats will get draft picks in return (via a straight trade to another club).

Trade Cassel for Bethel Johnson & Reche Caldwell.

Tony--Actually, it doesn't even need to be a Terrell Suggs-type player. If Cassel were the only free agent they lost, two Jabar Gaffney types would be enough to cancel out the compensatory pick.

imo, i think the bucs, lions, 49ers, and bears could all use cassel. look at cassel's second 1/2 of season stats compared to the rest of the league. he's a top 10 quarterback groomed by football royalty. he's going to get paid.

I wouldn't be surprised if they kept Cassel and traded Brady. You get a lot more draft picks in return and you keep a mobile, accurate, smart QB with no injury issue. To me, the problem with NE getting back to the Superbowl is their defense. Upgrading from Cassel to Brady is not going to help. NE needs defensive talent.

Cassell will be franchised. It would be ridiculous not to do that. He is too hot a commodity now and the Pats need him for insurance should Brady not be ready to go at the beginning of the season. They would probably promise him they wouldn't do it the next year (or the one after that -- they franchised Vinatieri for 2 years before deciding that a 3rd time wasn't "the right thing to do"). If Brady's rehab looks good, I imagine they would entertain trade talks but wouldn't settle for less than a 1st round and 2nd or 3rd round pick. The Pats hold all the cards here and would lose them all if they allowed him to go to free agency.

Add to that list the Vikings, Jets, and to a lesser extent the Bills and Chiefs and maybe even the Titans?

If the Lions are smart they would resist the urge to draft Sam Bradford 1st overall (if in fact he does enter the draft) and take the LT from Alabama. Then, take the 1st round pick and 3rd pick they received from the Cowboys for Roy Williams, and trade them to the Pats for Cassel. Now they have a young, athletic QB (you know, both opposites of Jon Kitna), a huge, young, athletic LT to protect him, and talented young tools like Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith to make Cassel's job easier. And most importantly, the Patriots would get some good value.

Phil Simms is the best analyst in the game today and he has hit the nail right on the head. If anyone knows QB play it's Simms. And he is absolutely correct that there is NOBODY coming out of the draft that is even close to Matt Cassel.

Listen, if I were the Lions I would offer the Number 1 overall pick for Cassel. I'm totally serious. Even the Number 1 overall is a crap shoot. The most important position on the field is the QB. Teams have set themselves back for years by trying to get their QB of the future through the draft and made a mistake. If you can get a proven QB who is 26 and has only taken an NFL beating for one season, you would have to be crazy not to get him. There is nobody the Lions could take with the Number 1 pick that would have the impact that Matt Cassel would have.

With all due respect Truman C, Tom Brady is one of the greatest quarterbacks to EVER play in this league. To think that the Patriots would trade him in favor of Matt Cassell is just plain crazy and I can't believe the number of people who are advocating that. He will be back and he will be just fine. As well as Matt did this year, one season does not an elite quarterback make. There are better ways of building the defense than trading away a future lock for the Hall of Fame.

They should just cut Brady to make room in the cap for Cassel. He is the player of the future while Brady has done nothing for this team. Cassel is the reason we were 11-5 this year and we should be EVEN BETTER next year if we stick with him! Plus, we've got OConnell waiting in the wings. This is going to be just like in SF when they had Montana and Young (we've got Cassel and OConnell)!

I think we should trade Cassel for Dante Culpepper and a few picks. Get a good solid back-up for Brady and some high end value for defense.

Since Mike hasn't replied yet, here's my list of potential suitors in order of desperation.

LIONS, JETS*, VIKINGS, BEARS, SKINS, BUCS, 49ERS, RAMS, CHIEFS, SEAHAWKS, CARDS

* Pats will not trade him to Jets. Yet another solid reason to Franchaise, to keep him away from a division rival.

The Lions are NOT going to trade their #1 for Cassel. The Pats, on the other hand, would love to get the #1 then trade it for another #1 and a #2 that might net them the #10 and #42 picks plus a #4. That would give them #10, #24, #42, #46, and #56 plus the #88 and likely the #100 or so for Samuel.

Talk about getting younger, faster and waaaaay cheaper in a hurry. They could easily reload their defense with 4 players, (including Seymour's replacement), draft a few O-Linemen for development and pick up a TE and WR grab a few veterans and oh yeah, offer Crennel his old job back.

With Cassel performance in the preseason, people were saying why aren't the Patriots release Cassel? And now, keep Cassel and trade Brady? My goodness!
To say Cassel has accuracy is over exaggerating.

OK. Jackie Ryan just trumped Truman C for stupidity.
"They should just cut Brady to make room in the cap for Cassel. He is the player of the future while Brady has done nothing for this team."
How about leading the team to 4 Super Bowls and winning 3 and coming within an eyelash of 2 other championships (Giants and Colts in the AFC title game)? Tell me you're not serious. While we're at it, let's cut Seymour, Wilfork, Mankins, Thomas, etc. Then we'll have all kinds of cap room.

Jackie Ryan: You cant really maintain a straight face when drawing the parallel to the SF 49ers with Cassel and O'Connell and not Brady and Cassel. Also, tossing Brady - a player who has done more for the organization and team-first philosophy than any other player - to the waistside without giving him a chance to come back would make me ashamed to be a Pats fan.

Totally agree Jim L. I cannot believe the limited knowledge of football that some of these posters post. Anyone who believes the Patriots should trade Brady are the same people who became "fans" in 2001. I read these stupid comments on other sites but their excuse is that they are not Patriot fans. Jackie Ryan and Truman C should become fans of another playoff teams. By the way did it occur to anyone of these "fans" that 55% of Cassel's passing yardage was after the catch? Not to take anything away from Matt C, he had a great first season and hopefully will continue to be a very good QB but one season does not supplant "the FRANCHISE"

Here is the ultimate plan to get back to the SB.
Franchise Cassel first
Trade him to the Lion for the !st round they have from the cowboy and alos the lions 3rd
Trade that first that we got from Lions and our third to move back into the top 10 to get the LB from USC.
Extend Wilfork and our LG
Let Seymour play our his contract see if he can stay healthy for an entire yr
Resign Sanders. our 1st round pink should be the best of the safety/corner/OL
with the second round picks, one should be the future replacemeent for Vrabel and the other should be the replacement for Hobbs
anticipating a compensatory pick for Asanti, we should hake a flyer on a speedy WR in the third as well as another DL to replace Seymour in a yr
Lastly, resign Jarvis Green and we will be back in the the SB in 2010
second round sh

Jackie Ryan, ( JETS troll? )

Why would you trade/release Brady when he is at his lowest trade value? ( coming off an ACL injury ) That is why they trade Cassel right now, he's at his highest trade value. Buy low, sell high. Never the other way around.

JIM

I can say that Cassell does have accuracy. go back to the Jets game with 1 second left when he hit Moss in the front corner of the end zone. The only that reason that was a TD was it was a PERFECT pass!

pats will be in the superbowl next year IN MIAMI! BOOK YOUR TIX!

Good post John (#22). For once a very reasonable scenario from someone other than Reiss. I do think a TE is high on the wish list too. I think they found Bruchi's heir in Guyton.

Someone pointed out that in Samuel's first couple of years few thought he was good enough and the Pats have Wheatley and Wilhite who could blossom into stars.

Cassel is good but the Pats can be bellicose

Ok so first off Cassell's last second game winner to Moss in the endzone was 50% pure luck and 50% Moss' talent not Cassell's. If Cassell had any talent even close to Tom Brady the game would never have been that close in the first place. I truly believe he will be a good QB for another team but not a Great like Tom Brady...Cassell has no accuracy what so ever when throwing the ball more than 10 yards...hence the reason why Welker caught for so many yards and Moss had a mediocre year because CASSELL could not get the ball to him!!!! The Patriots coaching staff had to pretty much rewrite their entire offense to suit Cassell..I say thank god for the great coaches and players who were able to adjust..

Brady will go before Cassell.

Why is the franchise tag the only option? The Patriots could negotiate a longer-term deal with Cassell that would give him a lower annual salary, but would also provide enough up-front bonus money to give him the first-year equivalent of the franchise quarterback's salary number. Being able to spread the bonus money over the life of the contract would lower the salary cap hit. It would also give the Patriots a long-term option to keep Cassells should Brady's injury prove to one that permanently reduces his ability.

Pennstatedad, Cassell won't want to negotiate a longer-term deal because he wants to be a starter now, and there are plenty of clubs around the league that he could start for in '09 if he doesn't get the tag.

I think the reason that they are going to franchise tag on Cassell is to prevent division opponents from getting him, especially the Jets. The Patriots just don't want to let Cassell go to free agency for free.

OK....for someone who is "more than a fair weather fan"...what last second game winner did Cassell have to Moss?....I believe what you are referring to was actually a "game tieing" TD...in a game the Pats LOST to the Jets! Obviously that CAN"T be what you are referring to since you are "more than a fair weather fan "How can you say he has NO ACCURACY when throwing a ball more than 10 yards????? Tell me...the ball Gaffney dropped (hit his hands) what was Matt aiming for...his a$$?
Don't be so idiotic if you claim to be a fan....

I'm not sold on Cassel. He opened lots of eyes, yes...but he had exceptional receivers in Moss and Welker, along with a fairly consistent Gaffney, and even more waiting in the wings.

He still marries the ball and he has no deep threat, at all.

I am not sold on him, yet.
But, I don't make the decisions.

I can't believe some of the ridiculous comments on here

YES, Matt Cassel can throw deep... ACCURATELY
YES, he has the POTENTIAL of a future HOF QB
YES, he can run when he has to.
But...
We have the greatest QB to EVER play the game in Tom Brady and the
comparison should not even be made between the two.

Franchise him and then trade him. Good enough.

Fr

Tom Brady isn't the best QB to ever play the game. Wake up, it's the system he is in. Fact: Cassel stepped into the position and played very well. Now which is more likely? 1, it's just the system. 2 The Patriots backup QB who hadn't started since high school really was a fantastic QB and no one ever knew it?

Tom Brady has performed extremely well in the franchise. Matt Cassel didn't do as well, but was an absolute zero out of nowhere and how big was the drop off? Tom Brady benifits enormously from the system, why is he regarded as the best QB to ever play the game???

I see the needs addressed by teams for qb..the one point I do not see is now that Pioli is with the Chiefs, will he go after Cassell..that would go a lot towards my belief in Cassel, which I think he is good. But if Pioli considers him good..that's pretty good judgement. Yeah I'm a Chiefs fans. So I would love to get Cassel, but I would not want to give up this years 1st rd pick..unless we are seriously wanting to get a franchise qb this year...then I would want Cassell and not the rookies coming in. But I would want to try to work a deal to trade next years first somehow. Because I would then get Cassell...pick up Peppers or Suggs (depending on his injury) in FA, and draft Crabtree....Chiefs would be playoff contenders with those changes alone....