Not Bad For a Year's Work

Today the Kansas City Chiefs announced that they signed QB Matt Cassel to a six-year contract that will pay him $28 million in guaranteed money, and $63 million over the life of the deal. That $10.5 million dollar average would have ranked 7th among quarterbacks in 2008. That is pretty insane when you figure that Matt Cassel has started just 15 games in his NFL career. Before last season Matt Cassel would have been lucky to get $10.5 million over 6 years, now he will be cashing that check each season. Is he worth this much of an investment?

Now a Chiefs defender or Matt Cassel supporter will talk about the big money that Aaron Rodgers gets and that his situation is similar to Cassels. There is some truth to that argument. Both quarterbacks had limited playing opportunities given the Hall of Fame quarterback playing in front of them. Also, both are young (though Rodgers is a year and a half younger) and entering the prime of their careers. While both those points are true, the argument fails to realize that Rodgers is a better quarterback than Cassel, either in the short or long term. Rodgers has a better pedigree, he was a first round draft pick, that was always considered a starting caliber quarterback. Also, he has the stronger arm, and seems to be more comfortable making all the various throws. Cassel excelled in a system that he had been in for years, and succeeded primarily out of the shotgun. The Patriots offensive system set just about every passing record the year before, giving Cassel more weapons to utilize. I think its hard to argue that Cassel is worth the kind of money that Rodgers is making.

Now I do recognize that the Chiefs were in a bit of a corner with the Patriots designating Cassel as a "Franchise" player. This raised the price on Cassel considerably. Had Cassel been on the open market he may have gotten a $6-8 million dollar average but he wouldn't have gotten much more than that. Kansas City is now paying him like he is a top notch QB, and that seems to be a gross exaggeration of his skills. There are easily 12-15 quarterbacks I'd rather have leading my team over the next 6 years than Cassel. That doesn't even count guys like Warner or Delhomme who are better options over the next few years as well. Kansas City is paying more than most of those guys, like he is a true "Franchise quarterback". Given the limited track record of Cassel, this was a big risk for the Chiefs to take. I think in the long run, Cassel will prove to be a solid starter, but not a $10 million dollar man. The Chiefs will pay for this mistake for years to come.

Trade Center: NFL

Usually when we think of trades in the NFL we think of War Room deals that take place during April's draft. This year we've already seen a few deals go down as the off season period commenced. We are going to analyze the trades and evaluate how each team did.

The Deal: Vikings trade a 4th round pick to the Texans for QB Sage Rosenfels

Texans: Sage Rosenfels wasn't going to supplant Matt Schaub as a starter so the Texans did a good job getting value for him. Though a 4th round pick isn't a huge addition Houston should be able to find a solid contributor in that round.

Vikings: While Rosenfels won't make Minnesota fans forget about Fran Tarkenton, he will be a major upgrade to the quarterback position. His arrival will push Tarvaris Jackson to the bench and Gus Frerotte out the door. Rosenfels should be a solid starter for the Vikings.

Winner: Both teams won here. The Texans got value for a player they didn't need and the Vikings now have a passing game to go along with Adrian Peterson.

The deal: New England Patriots trade Franchise QB Matt Cassel and OLB Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2nd round pick (34th overall)

Chiefs: Kansas City did a good job getting two starters for only an early 2nd round pick. Cassel should upgrade the 20th ranked pass offense, and is a better option than relying on a rookie. Having Cassel entrenched as a starter allows the Chiefs to focus on another need with the 3rd overall pick in the draft. Cassel will need to prove he's not a product of the Patriots system but should benefit from head coach Todd Haley's pass first offense. While Cassel grabs the headlines of this deal the real prize could very well be Mike Vrabel. The Chiefs defense was awful last season finishing 31st in yards allowed. The Chiefs pass rush was non-existent in 2008 managing only 10 sacks. Vrabel should help the team on both accounts. He may no longer be the dominate pass rusher he was in 2007, when he had 12.5 sacks, but he will be a welcome improvement. His leadership and experience can only help this unit.

Patriots: New England did receive an early 2nd round pick for Cassel and Vrabel, but the real value the Patriots received was cap room. By making the trade the Patriots cleared over $15 million dollars in cap space and should now be able to be an active team in free agency. New England also did a good job getting value out of a player they didn't really need in Cassel, as Tom Brady is the starting quarterback. The problem with the deal is two fold; one: trading away a veteran leader like Vrabel can have repercussions on the field and in the locker room, two: by having that money tied up, even for just two days, kept the Patriots from trying to sign a number of top players. Losing Vrabel creates a hole at linebacker which was already a position of need. In terms of Cassel getting only a 2nd round pick is a pretty low return for a "Franchise player". It brings to mind the question that maybe it wasn't a good idea to Franchise Cassel in the first place since they weren't able to get a comparable value for him. The money they had tied up in Cassel could have gone into linebackers like Bart Scott or Michael Boley, a cornerback like Domonique Foxworth, and any one of the guards that have signed.

Winner: Kansas City has to be the big winner here. They added a solid young quarterback with upside and a veteran linebacker for only a 2nd round pick. Cassel alone should have been worth at least that much. The Chiefs did a great job not overpaying for a "Franchise player".