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Hector Longo chiming in on Matt Cassel’s deal to the Chiefs

Feb 28th, 2009 by Bill Burt

It all depends on compensation.
Patriots finish off the deal, of Matt Cassel (with Mike Vrabel) to the Chiefs, according to NFL reports.
The compensation is the thing, folks.
A second rounder, no. 34 overall, is all the Pats got.

A first and a second from the Chiefs would have been nice.
Maybe even a first and a swap of seconds, to get New England three picks in the top 40.

Sorry, at first glance, this just doesn’t look like enough. But we’ll see how it shakes out.
Those of you staunch readers, who starched me earlier for talking about Cassel’s tradeability, sorry.
He was too big a bargaining chip not to deal.
Thanks for a fun year Matt. Congrats, cash in and set up your family for life.
Cassel was nothing but a class act here. And for that matter, Vrabel, while cranky and at times aloof, was a pretty darn good man, too. Both deserve the best..

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  • I'm no sycophant!
    Hector,

    You're crazy if you think that KC was going to give up the #3 overall pick and swap seconds for Cassel. Getting the 34th pick seems like decent value to me.

    Don't forget what you wrote back on 10/27/08:
    "These delusions that Cassel gets better game by game couldn't be further from the truth.

    The fact is the fourth-year man out of USC — you know the maid of honor for Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer and now Tom Brady — has reached the ceiling on his potential.

    At age 26, there is no gigantic upside. He's not improving week-to-week as Patriot sycophants like to proclaim."

    The #34 pick for a 26 year old perennial backup QB with no gigantic upside seems like a great deal. (And all signs seem to indicate they were going to cut Vrabel anyway, so his "value" shouldn't even factor into it.
  • BSF34
    The 2nd round pick is only 2 spots out of the first round. Cassell has had one decent season, where the Pats had a very easy schedule. Against teams that made the playoffs last year the Pats record was 2-4. Pioli would've been run out of KC if he gave up the #3 pick overall for someone who's right now just a one-year wonder. Even your hero Ron Borges thinks it's a good deal for the Pats.
  • bighec711
    You guys don't think his value was higher than that, not the No. 3 but maybe a 34 this year and a second next year, too? Or a second, third and fourth, something like that.
    KC got a 1st, 3rd and 6th for Jarad Allen in a similar situation last year.
    The Pats also had the chance for a mid-first rounder in that three-way with Denver and Tampa.
    And IM NO SYC, stop throwing my own words at me. Nobody was more wrong on Cassel than I was. I've already admitted that and repented.
    A lot has happened since 10/27 when I wrote that
    You may not be a sycophant, but maybe change the moniker to Rain Man for the amazing ability to remember my mistakes.
    As I said, you had to deal him. And a second is "nice." Nice doesn't win Super Bowls.
    Blockbuster wins championships (or at least AFC titles), as we know here.
    Brady as a 6th-rounder ....
    Vrabel for short money ...
    Deion Branch in the second ...
    Wes Welker for a song ...
    Randy Moss for even less ...
  • Rain Man
    Hector,

    You say "nice" and I say "decent value", sounds about the same to me. I've been hearing about this Tampa-Denver deal for the past two days. Schefter has this on his blog:
    "Tampa approached Denver to try to make a three-way trade that would have sent Cassel to the Broncos and quarterback Jay Cutler to the Buccaneers. The Broncos entertained the notion and pondered it but ultimately decided against it.

    Also, the Lions approached the Broncos about a trade for Cutler, trying to dangle Cassel as bait. Once again, Denver debated the deal and opted against it apparently. What made it a moot point was that while all Tampa, Detroit and Denver engaged in trade talks with New Engalnd, the Patriots went ahead and dealt Cassel to the Chiefs."

    So twice Denver decided not to deal Cutler. Tampa didn't want Cassel and neither did Detroit. Where was the big market for Cassel? Teams may not have been able to make deals until last Friday, but they certainly were allowed to talk about them all off-season. Do you believe that the Patriots didn't determine what Cassel's value was before they traded him to KC? It's fair to say that everyone (fans) hoped they might be able to get a late first round pick, or a second and a third, but there wasn't a lot of interest in Cassel. I think it would have been bad business for the Patriots to wait until draft day in hopes for a better deal, because then they'd be operating without any cap space for all of March and April.

    In the long run you're October assessment of Cassel might be end up being closer to the truth. Now if you'll excuse me it's ten minutes to Wapner.
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