Pats to Franchise Cassel

[MParty7441]

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REPORT: PATS TO FRANCHISE CASSEL
Posted by Mike Florio on January 2, 2009, 10:47 a.m. EST
With New England quarterback Matt Cassel set to become a free agent — and with two key current members of the organization, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and V.P. of player personnel Scott Pioli, possibly heading to new teams — the Patriots are prepared to slap the franchise tag on Cassel.

Former NFL exec Mike Lombardi said on the most recent edition of Showtime’s Inside the NFL that the move will be made.

“The Patriots are way too smart, and I’ve talked to people in the organization,” said Lombardi, via the Providence Journal. “They are going to franchise Matt Cassel. He’s an asset, and they can control their ability to trade him if they franchise him.”

Though the move will result in the quarterback position commanding upwards of $26 million in cap space for 2009, it’s the right decision, regardless of whether it’s a hedge against Tom Brady not being healthy or it’s a strategy for getting something of value in exchange for Cassel.

The franchise tender for Cassel will be based upon the average of the five highest-paid quarterbacks in the league. It’s expected that the number will be in the range of $12 million.

The amount becomes fully guaranteed if Cassel signs the tender.

Though the move might be nothing more than an effort to ensure that the Patriots will receive significant compensation by trading Cassel, we still wouldn’t be surprised if Cassel and the Pats work out a relatively short-term deal, perhaps only two or three years in duration, aimed at keeping him around until it’s clear that Brady is back to 100 percent — and giving Cassel a crack at becoming the Steve Young to Brady’s Joe Montana.

[MBGreen]

good...he's overrated. His play is a result of their easy schedule and the talent that surrounds him. I'm glad the Jets won't touch him.

[Murrell2878]

I know the article suggests they may be looking to trade Cassel but I think the rumors of Brady's injury and rehab status must be true.

[WW85]

Brady might be done, as some have reported.

[Revis Flytrap]

Good news for us--this puts a nice hit to their cap structure if in fact Brady still plays.

[wildthing2022000]

Franchise tag is worth what avg. of top 5 at position right? Does that include bonus or not?

Top 5 with bonus(in millions)
$18.74
$14.62
$13.98
$12.91
$12.00

Top 5 without
$12.00
$11.5
$8.45
$7.75
$7

either way it's a lot of room figuring Brady took up $14 mil of space for 2008

[MayoGate]

Boys and Girls .. The Pats are not on the hook until the season begins .. They will have him traded by the opener imo ..

[SixFeetDeep]

Boys and Girls .. The Pats are not on the hook until the season begins .. They will have him traded by the opener imo ..

what if tom brady isnt 100%?

[al_toon_88]

good...he's overrated. His play is a result of their easy schedule and the talent that surrounds him. I'm glad the Jets won't touch him.

Agreed. dafadsf filler

[davecrazy]

Sounds to me that Brady might in fact be done just like the rumors have said.

Even if he does play again, he'll never be the same player. Carson Palmer looked awesome before he had the same injury. Now he's just average.

[Namath2Kolber]

Beelzicheck has never shown hesitation in letting a player go when they cost too much. So I'm on board with the others who think Brady's injury must be career threatening.

[VickBlows]

TMZ says Brady is way ahead of schedule.

[624]

what if tom brady isnt 100%?

Kevin O'Connell!

[JetBlue]

Boys and Girls .. The Pats are not on the hook until the season begins .. They will have him traded by the opener imo ..
whatever you need to tell yourself to get to sleep. if they franchise him, he'll be a Pat next season because they are unsure whether Brady will be back. and if Brady doesn't look like he will, you can guarantee Cassel makes sure he gets a few years added to that contract and a nice guarantee before he ever sets foot on the field. either way, this is going to cost the Pats some money this coming season, it isn't a ploy for a trade. I don't think it is unbelievable that most GM's are leery of his success and don't find it shocking that a competent QB with good coaching would put up his numbers in an offense that broke scoring records the season before. fact is, the Pats are going to pay starter money for a back-up because they have no choice.

[IATA]

TMZ says Brady is way ahead of schedule.

TMZ, sports authority.

[JHTJ]

TMZ says Brady is way ahead of schedule.There ya go, if TMZ says poodle boy is ahead of schedual then book him a comeback award next year.

They'll clear enough space to keep him on the books until they can get a 2nd rounder or some later conditional pick. That is a well run franchise, they're not going to let him go for nothing, unless they have to.

If the Falcons can get what they got for Schaub, the Patriots will get something for Cassell.

[JHTJ]

whatever you need to tell yourself to get to sleep. if they franchise him, he'll be a Pat next season because they are unsure whether Brady will be back. and if Brady doesn't look like he will, you can guarantee Cassel makes sure he gets a few years added to that contract and a nice guarantee before he ever sets foot on the field. either way, this is going to cost the Pats some money this coming season, it isn't a ploy for a trade. I don't think it is unbelievable that most GM's are leery of his success and don't find it shocking that a competent QB with good coaching would put up his numbers in an offense that broke scoring records the season before. fact is, the Pats are going to pay starter money for a back-up because they have no choice.Good observation, and sound logic. I agree, the Patriots have to pay starter money to a backup. Afterall, backups are hard to come by.

[Hemi]

Not suprising. But again, I will wait to see it happen officially.

[Hemi]

Boys and Girls .. The Pats are not on the hook until the season begins .. They will have him traded by the opener imo ..


Can you franchise then trade?

[JHTJ]

Can you franchise then trade?There's a certain way you have to go about doing it, but yes you can.

[Firemangini Ed]

All the surprise story QBs this year(Ryan, Flacco, Cassel, Pennington) are on well coached teams with good to great running games. Cassel is prolly on the team with the worst running game of the four, but he has Welker and Moss, that more than compensates. Rather than trying to trade or draft a messiah QB the Jets should focus on being a well coached team with a good to great running game. Sort of like Miami.

[BadgerOnLSD]

That is a well run franchise, they're not going to let him go for nothing, unless they have to.
Sure, keep twisting that dagger. :(

[Don]

No surprise here and it guarantees the Jets can never get him. Now they trade him out of the division if Brady is ok.

"The New England Patriots have decided to ensure that quarterback Matt Cassel 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'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.

That would mean the Patriots would have about $29 million in salary cap space tied up in two quarterbacks, with Brady earning almost $15 million and Cassel guaranteed over $14 million.

However, the cap jumps to $123 million per team, which gives the Patriots $94 million to manage the rest of their roster."

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[SixFeetDeep]

i dont want matt cassel.

[bigalxc]

I don't want Patriot trash I would like to see what we have in Clemens and Ratliff before going the Free agent route. Or Drafting a guy like Bradford

[CJLang]

Can you franchise then trade?

The Chiefs did it with Jared Allen last year. It's up to the player and his agent to go to the league if they feel he is just getting franchised to trade. More than likely, the Pats have already been talking to Cassel and his agent about this.

BTW, the cost for signing a franchised player is 2 1st round picks.... the Lions have more than that.

[abyzmul]

Can you franchise then trade?

Yes, that's what we did with John Abraham 3 years ago.

[dubagedi]

whatever you need to tell yourself to get to sleep. if they franchise him, he'll be a Pat next season because they are unsure whether

Or maybe they are just franchising him to prevent him from going to the Jets and in an effort to get value in return as part of a trade. Whatever you need to tell yourself to get to sleep.

[SeymourSacks]

Can you franchise then trade?

Yes, the Jets did it with John Abraham

[SeymourSacks]

They could never prove that they're franchising him simply to trade him away due to Brady's injury. Cassel is insurance right now, so if Brady rehabs and can come back, we trade Cassel for some serious picks, if Brady can't come back then we at least know we have a good QB to manage the games for us next year. The best lawyer in the world wouldn't prove that the Pats only franchised Cassel to seek compensation in a trade.

[brothermoose]

They could never prove that they're franchising him simply to trade him away due to Brady's injury. Cassel is insurance right now, so if Brady rehabs and can come back, we trade Cassel for some serious picks, if Brady can't come back then we at least know we have a good QB to manage the games for us next year. The best lawyer in the world wouldn't prove that the Pats only franchised Cassel to seek compensation in a trade.

That's because they destroyed tapes of all the meetings.