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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
March 1, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
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When the news broke yesterday about the New England Patriots trading QB Matt Cassel to the Kansas City Chiefs, I happened to see it while watching Georgetown's upset over Villanova in an ESPN flash at my girlfriend's apartment. Right after that we had to leave, and on the car ride to her new house, we speculated about what the Chiefs had to give up in return. "I wonder what the Chiefs had to give up?" I asked. "Did they trade away the #3 overall pick? Or maybe their 2010 first rounder?"
 | Mike Vrabel is heading to Kansas City. (Icon SMI)
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It took a couple of phone calls to friends, but I found the answer: Cassel going to Kansas City was the second-half of a two-part trade that began yesterday with New England sending 34-year-old LB Mike Vrabel to Kansas City. For those two players, Kansas City gave up their second round pick, #34 overall. No first rounder required. Though, from the #34 spot, there will likely be first-round quality talent on the board at that position.
Something that has been under-emphasized is that Cassel did *not* have to agree to a long-term contract extension as part of the trade. And why should be? He is guaranteed $14.35 million for 2009, and then he can either become an unrestricted free agent again or get franchised, which would give him 120% of his 2010 salary guaranteed the minute he signs the contract.
There is always the risk of Cassel being a Derek Anderson-style one year wonder, and he won't have the same weapons in Kansas City that he had in New England. But, even if Cassel struggles in 2009, he will still bank $14.35 million guaranteed. And there's something to be said for that.
The funny thing for me with the trade is that I had redone the mock on here less than 24 hours before to project Kansas City drafting Mark Sanchez (up to #3 to #9). So today I had the fun of doing some more switcheroo work. That's okay, though. Once free agency begins, mock drafts typically have to be updated frequently to reflect changes made with high-impact players signing with new teams.
The rift that has developed in recent days with Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos is most curious. Denver has a new regime in place, but the rumor of the team shopping Cutler around struck me as a bit of a surprise. This may have come from the rumored three-way trade that was supposedly floated at the 11th hour where Tampa Bay would have sent draft picks to New England, New England would have sent Matt Cassel to Denver, and Denver would have sent Cutler to Tampa Bay. The validity of this is something I can't gauge, and the Broncos say that they merely received inquiries about Cutler, but it has created a situation where Cutler is less than pleased with the new administration calling the shots in Denver.
I have to admit some bias toward Cutler; he played college ball with my relative Matthew Tant at Vanderbilt and remains friends with him (though I've never met Cutler). At the same time, one could argue that the decision to bench Jake Plummer in December 2006 and replace him with Cutler as the team's starting QB ultimately cost Mike Shanahan his job. Whatever the case, there is a strong disconnect between Cutler and the Broncos at this point.
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