I think it is like plan D or beyond by now and free agency hasn’t even started. Remember there was talk of Donovan McNabb (plan A or B), Warner (B or A), and Cassell was plan C.

he’s guaranteed $14.65 million, and the Pats almost have to deal him. If they keep him, 30% of their cap space is taken up in Brady and Cassel, and that’s not realistic. Let’s assume Brady comes back healthy. Your backup is gathering dust at almost $15 mil, making as much as Brady and Moss combined? No way.
  
I never thought franchising Cassel was smart for the Pats, because this was their nightmare scenario, and now he’s got the team by the short curlies.

Every report I can find notes that the Patriots put a “non-exclusive” franchise tag on Cassell, meaning he is still free to negotiate with other teams, but the Patriots would have the right to match any offer (or recieve two 1st round picks as compensation).

I also question whether that contract would be binding if he were traded and signed to a long term deal by another team. In every other situation, teams and players have leeway in these matters when structuring extensions.

I don’t think a team that trades for him will have to pay the $14mil. Usually part of the conditions for the trade would be that Cassel would have to agree to a new contract. I still think Cassel is plan A for the vikings. The question mark is how Cassel will perform with out the Patriot wideouts. Warner and Mcnabb will cost the same amount of money or possibly even more. Plus they both probably only have a couple of productive years left in the league. Warner has the same question mark as Cassel, what will he do without the two studs he currently throws to. In my opion Mcnabb is very inconsistent. I say take the risk with Cassel and pick up a solid left tackle in free agency.

Basically, as I understand it, this is how it would go. The Patriots would trade Cassell to the highest bidding team. The Patriots would restructure Cassell’s contract to match what the other team/Cassell agreed on. Then when Cassell got traded to the other team, He would come with the new contract, not a one year franchise tag salary.

Check out that mock draft that is linked in this article. Sanchez dropping to 22? I doubt it. But like it’s said, Sanchez would be a dream. There is only one problem I see with that. I believe the Vikings will not wait until the draft to deal with the QB position. The front office believes there will not be a QB available at 22, so they will not wait and hold out hope. So if Sanchez was available, picking him would depend on who the Vikings brought in. Say the Vikings work out a deal and get Cassell. Would they still draft Sanchez at 22 if he was available? I doubt it.

To be a little more accurate when discussing the Patriots dire need to trade Cassell at this point, he and Brady’s combined cap number with be approx $29.2 million. Everyone believes the league cap will continue to rise at its expected pace and therefore should be approx $123 million.

So, Brady’s and Cassell’s combined contracts will account for less than 24% of NE’s payroll. It is still a hefty number, but less than a quarter and almost a third are very different.

Cassel is coming off his fourth year in the league and obviously made a huge impact on his team and the league with his play. He developed each week in New England’s passing game by making good decisions and getting the ball to all levels of the field with a high rate of accuracy. He doesn’t have great speed, but he can pull the ball down and move the chains effectively. He stands tall in the pocket and has great vision. He has good weight transfer, release quickness and mechanics when given time in the pocket. Cassel has also made some nice throws, when eluding pressure from different angles. He is adept at finding his second and third options, but has taken too many sacks in his first year as the starter. Cassell has a strong arm to make throws at all levels. He is a good ball-faker and appears to have an excellent grasp of the Patriots’ offense. He can check off and get his offense into mismatches in both the passing and running game. Cassel has shown himself to be a competent quarterback who could start for several clubs, but it shouldn’t be underestimated that he has outstanding targets to throw to.

Again, even ESPN credits NE’s WR’s for some of Cassell’s production. There is no denying that fact. But the same can be said for AD. AD has an excellent line to pave the way for him. While the line helps Peterson, does that mean he should be discredited because of that? No.

Would be a nice option. I highly doubt the Vikes are going to give up what the Patriots will likely demand for Cassel so we should certainly be looking elsewhere. As others have mentioned, I ’m not even sure Cassel is really the long term answer for any team.

Negotiation season is wide open and there’s no real reason to expect the Vikes top 1st round pick to remain at #22 if the front office really thinks they can make out by working a deal with some very needy team out there.

I think that if the Vikes really thought Sanchez or some other QB in the draft was the answer, they could jump for him and have a good chance of landing him. It’s still going to likely take years to bring a newb QB up to speed, and they’ll still need a solid vet to teach him.

FA’s looking like a bust for 1st string QBs, the draft is a development crap-shoot, there’s really only one thing left…. Trade. It worked to land Allen, it could work again.

The Vikings magically transformed the Cowboys into a 90’s dynasty and made a mediocre coach like Jimmy Johnson look like a mastermind. If the Vikes do not trade their #1, then I think they should take the best player available regardless of position.

I would probably die. No joking. Probably have a heart attack. After I jumped up and kissed my TV (or computer, whichever I learned of the trade first) about 1,000 times just like how little school girls used to jump up and down and kiss their tv’s whenever Backstreet boys were playing!