Sources: Pats to franchise Cassel

[UNHWildCats]

The New England Patriots (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=nwe) have decided to ensure that quarterback Matt Cassel (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=8644) won't be an unrestricted free agent, as scheduled in March.



Sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen that the Patriots will use a franchise tag on Cassel that will give the team two options: Trade him if all goes well with Tom Brady (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=2330)'s rehabilitation from a knee injury or keep him because all is not well with Brady.


The Patriots' intention to franchise Cassel was first reported by the National Football Post.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3809444

[siuham]

Wonder what Detroit would have to offer New England for his services...Maybe the Jets. xlolx

[ISUMatt]

This is totally against the spirit of the rule and leave it to the Patriots to abuse a good rule

[Cleets]

This is totally against the spirit of the rule and leave it to the Patriots to abuse a good rule

Explain how locking up your starting QB is against the spirit of the rule..?
Brady may never come back - his injury is infected and not healing properly

Try this:
What would you do if this was your team to run... let Cassel walk and hope like hell Brady comes back..?

xeyebrowx

You're obviously just a Patriots hater... because any team in their situation would do this...

[grizband]

Explain how locking up your starting QB is against the spirit of the rule..?
Brady may never come back - his injury is infected and not healing properly

Try this:
What would you do if this was your team to run... let Cassel walk and hope like hell Brady comes back..?

xeyebrowx

You're obviously just a Patriots hater... because any team in their situation would do this...
This is an unfortunate reality the Pats may soon have to face.

[Cleets]

This is an unfortunate reality the Pats may soon have to face.

I was in Boston all last week... Many people feel Brady won't play one minute of Pre-Season
Thus Cassel will probably start 5 or 6 games (or more) next year
The Patriots would be crazy to let their QB (that nobody drafted for some reason) go to some stupid poorly run franchise like Detroit or Chicago



xnodx

[ISUMatt]

Ok well i f thats the case I wont say that...I was undfer the assumption that they tagged him ONLY to trade him so they wouldnt lose him...Im Sorry

[JMU DJ]

This just goes back to the question... is it Brady that is great or is he the product of the NE system? They never seem to be hurt by player or coaching losses... love them or hate them, Belichick and the front office are what matters, everyone else is expendable.

[Cleets]

Ok well i f thats the case I wont say that...I was undfer the assumption that they tagged him ONLY to trade him so they wouldnt lose him...Im Sorry

Fair enough... sorry for jumping on you xlolx

[UNHWildCats]

This is totally against the spirit of the rule and leave it to the Patriots to abuse a good rule
I think this goes beyond wanting to get something in return. There are reports that Brady wont be ready for the start of the season and that could be why they are franchising him. Besides Cassel can hardly complain going from $800,000 to over $14 million next season.

[UNHWildCats]

This just goes back to the question... is it Brady that is great or is he the product of the NE system? They never seem to be hurt by player or coaching losses... love them or hate them, Belichick and the front office are what matters, everyone else is expendable.
Clearly the Patriots have a system that can make a QB better, but you cant credit an offensive system for everything Brady has done in his seven seasons on the field.

[JMU DJ]

Clearly the Patriots have a system that can make a QB better, but you cant credit an offensive system for everything Brady has done in his seven seasons on the field.

It's true the QB would need to have some skill, but the patriots have always surrounded Brady with the people he has needed. Recievers, Running backs, O-Line. The Patriots offense could make Trent Dilfer look good. I mean come on, the man is such a genius, he butters both sides of the bread! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOaGkPXn9LQ) Who would have thought of that?

[UNHWildCats]

It's true the QB would need to have some skill, but the patriots have always surrounded Brady with the people he has needed. Recievers, Running backs, O-Line. The Patriots offense could make Trent Dilfer look good. I mean come on, the man is such a genius, he butters both sides of the bread! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOaGkPXn9LQ) Who would have thought of that?
really?

2001 and 2003 Antowain Smith as RB... aside from Troy Brown they had no notable receivers in 2001, they had Deion Branch in 2003 and 2004, but he was hardly a great WR.

Yea they traded for Corey Dillon, but that was hardly a slam dunk when they made the deal. They had Deion Branch whom they drafted, but before last year they never really had a marquee WR for Brady. Hell go look at what he had for WRs in 2006 when they Pats had that big lead at half time in the AFC Championship against the Colts... To have a team that far with crappy WRs is amazing.

2006 WRs: Troy Brown, Reche Caldwell, Brandan Childress, Doug Gabriel, Jabar Gaffney, Chad Jackson, Kelvin Kight, Jonathan Smith.

[JMU DJ]

I'm not knocking Brady, I think he's a good quarterback... I just don't think he's the Golden Boy he's made out to be. You can say everything you said previously about the eagles. When have they given McNabb a great receiver besides T.O.? Never, they've surrounded him with a bunch of good/decent receivers, the same thing the patriots have done. Do I think McNabb is a bad quarterback? No.... but what has happened when a backup has stepped in that system? Look at the 2002 season... Coy Detmer and AJ Feely came in and ran a train. It's all about the team these quarterbacks land on

[Reign of Terrier]

They were talking about something like this on ESPN radio. They were asking if, based on how Cassel is playing, would you resign him and trade Brady for 2 first round draft picks or let him walk?

[UNHWildCats]

They were talking about something like this on ESPN radio. They were asking if, based on how Cassel is playing, would you resign him and trade Brady for 2 first round draft picks or let him walk?
they wont trade Brady.... Before he has value he would have to come back and prove he can play.. at which point he's able to play at a high level and the Pats wouldnt want to trade him or he cant still play at his high level and he has no trade value.

[CrackerRiley]

This just goes back to the question... is it Brady that is great or is he the product of the NE system? They never seem to be hurt by player or coaching losses... love them or hate them, Belichick and the front office are what matters, everyone else is expendable.

QFT. This is exactly what I was going to say. I would love to see Cassel go to another team and see him play like crap. Why am I saying this? I hate NE...

[bluehenbillk]

Tom Brady = Wally Pipp