Matt Cassel imo is a good Qb. When Leinart was out, I don't remember if it was injury or they were simply kicking butt (or both at various time), I thought Cassel was the better Qb.
That's what my eyes were telling me. My head thought 'still want leinart' since he was the guy that achieved what he did. I felt my suspicions were confirmed when Cassel got drafted, and it was NE who did it.
As of now, personally I feel Palmer, Cassel, Leinart in that order of talent. Where does Sanchez fit in. Ofc I can be wrong, but I feel Sanchez is either a little bit better than Leinart, or a little less. At this stage Sanchez is a 2nd-3rd round Qb, nothing more imo.
In five years it might be 1) Cassel, 2)Palmer and then however Leinart/Sanchez end up imo. I feel Sanchez has potential bust written all over him. But I could very well be wrong. I didn't watch every USC game, but Sanchez never impressed me much.
NE is on the hook for Brady's salary. Cassel's only on a 1 year contract via the franchise tag. I'm not an expert, but my guess is that it makes it easier to trade a franchise player because there is no signing bonus involved. (thus no dead cap space which hinders trades usually)
Next season they'd either have to sign cassel to a long term deal and cut brady, or lose Cassel entirely w/o compensation.
It is a risk if Brady isn't ready, so one would have to think that they did their due diligence about Brady and feel comfortable he will be recovered. But you never know, and things can go wrong even when due diligence is done.
That said, acquiring the 34th pick is excellent. Generally there are 30-40 players worthy of being 1st round selections. 34th gives them a great chance to get a guy that slipped who has 1st round talent, but not have to pay 1st round price.
Again because of cap numbers I'm in full belief that without being the luckiest GM alive, teams are better off consistently picking lower in the first round of the draft. High seconds, like they've become in NBA can have more appeal than a 25th-32nd.
If that player busts, the cap hit is relatively negligible.
Meanwhile for KC getting a starting Qb and a good starting lb for the 34th pick is a sweet deal. I think both made out like bandits because the trade fits so well for both.
Thigpen looks surprising good at times last season. I payed a bit more attention than I normally would since I picked him up on my fantasy team. That said, I'd rather have Cassel going forward, and you still have thigpen. Cassel is on a 1 year contract. (although they'll probably extend him). But if not, they can feel them both out, and figure out what the best thing to do before next offseason. It's not like thigpen has a huge cap number.
Also I can see a 2nd deal coming down to replace the #34 with a similar pick (2nd rounder above 50 or so) for TG. Not that Haley would like to have him, but at his age, and cap number, and this being the 1st year of a new Chiefs era, I can see him being traded. Ofc he very well may stay on the Chiefs, like what Haley is doing and re-sign for a couple more years. But all-in-all, I wouldn't be surprised that in a sense the end result is, TG for Vrabel and Cassel and maybe a 2nd round pick a couple of notches lower.
