Can the Patriots ruin the trade market for Anderson?
Posted January 5th, 2009 by Luke Chandler
ESPN reported this weekend that the Patriots intend to use their Franchise Tag on quarterback Matt Cassell, who played very well this season in relief of the injured Tom Brady. Cassell is an unrestricted free agent after the season ends, and the Patriots intended to make sure they receive compensation should he intend to depart.
The Patriots are also protecting themselves, should Tom Brady not be ready to start the season due to lingering problems with his repaired knee ligaments. If Brady is healthy, New England will start shopping Cassell in hopes of pulling a trade prior to April's draft.
This will probably put a damper on the Browns ability to trade former starter Derek Anderson. The Browns need to be able to peddle Anderson, in hopes of recovering picks lost from various trades through the 2008 NFL Draft. The Patriots can do a few things that will damper the Browns chances of acquiring anything of value for Anderson.
Undercut the market: If the Browns are asking for a first and third round pick, for example, and the Patriots are seeking less compensation, a team can easily just not make a deal with the Browns.
Take out the competition: With two starting quality quarterbacks on the market, it limits at minimum one trading partner.
Ride out the storm: If the Patriots sit on Cassell because they don't like the offers, not even trading him until Day 2 of the Draft for either picks in the 2010 NFL Draft, or for a player, it will hurt the Browns also. In a scenario like this, the general manager (whoever that might be), may get antsy and just trade Anderson early on Day 2 of the draft for lesser value, such as a fourth round selection.
All in all, it makes for a messy situation for the Browns no matter how it is sliced up. The Browns need to trade Anderson, for at least a third round selection to recoup their own third round pick, traded to the Cowboys in the Martin Rucker trade. With the t rookie GM, like George Kokinis, it just seems inevitable that the Browns will end getting less value for Anderson.
The one plus in this scenario is that several teams are in the hunt for a quarterback, depending on how free agency and roster shuffles go for them:
- Arizona Cardinals
- Detroit Lions
- New York Jets
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Minnesota Vikings
- San Francisco 49ers
- St. Louis Rams
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The only other positive to this is that Anderson and Cassell play different styles of football, so the same teams may not be fighting over them. Cassell is more polished on underneath routes, and distributes the ball well. He is a more mobile passer. Anderson on the other hand, is a system quarterback. He has only played in Air Coryell offense in college and the pro's, which focuses on deep passing patterns and a different overall system. Cassell would probably be more attractive to like the Bucaneers, who play the West Coast Offense; while Anderson would be more coveted by the Chiefs, who run a spread offense with heavy roots in the Air Coryell.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
i wouldn't expect the patriots to know if brady is ready for the start of the season by april. so really, the whole scenario in this article is a very long shot.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
The Patriots probably won't know Brady's status till then, but once free agency starts they will start getting offers for Cassell. Cassell has no long term future with the Patriots, unless Brady suddenly retires. They will be establishing a market for him.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Unfortunately I believe teams will value Cassell more than Anderson regardless of the kind of offense they run. The market will also be affected by the draft, which qbs declare and how they grade out; the Lions, Rams and Chiefs all draft high and are in position to start over with a rookie qb.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
i don't expect the pats to give up cassell until training camp. how can you afford to trade cassell before then with the severity of the injury and the complications afterwards that brady has had?
January 6th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
The financial implications of waiting till Training Camp could severely hinder their free agency plans. Having nearly $25 million tied up in two quarterbacks could be devastating.
Plus if they wait till Training Camp to trade Cassell, teams may not have the money to sign him to a new deal once they have mostly set their 2009 roster.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
After building a new stadium and then a new state of the art training facility by purchasing a mall and conveting it then the revamp of the entire staff Tampa wins a super bowl and we still do not have a franchise quarterback