matt cassel

the new football season begins tonite in new england ... but reality is we are about to be treated to 4 weeks of blah blah blah preseason football ... lets just hope the players stay healthy through these meaningless games

im going to take some of this preseason time to comment about a couple offseason issues ... first up, MATT CASSEL

just 7 minutes into the patriots 2008 season ... kansas city chiefs safety bernard pollard lunges at tom brady's left knee ... shreading brady's acl and mcl ... ending tom brady's season before it ever gets started ... enter brady's back-up ... matt cassel ... 4 years a back-up to heisman trophy winners carson palmer and matt leinart at usc ... in his 4th year as back-up to tom brady (and at times former heisman trophy winners doug flutie and vinny testaverde) with the patriots ... this 2005 7th round draft pick had not started a football game since his chatsworth high school days ... enter matt cassel ... matt started 15 games ... the patriots finished the season 11-5 ... matt cassel was a big part of 11 patriots wins ... 21 touchdowns <> 11 interceptions <> 3,693 yards ... matt cassel was not the reason new england ended last season the 1st team to win 11 games and not make the playoffs

early in february new england used it's franchise tag on free agent to be matt cassel ... that move guaranteed matt $14.65 million for 1 year with the patriots ... on march 1st ... the 3rd day of this year's free agency signing period ... new england traded matt cassel and his guaranteed $14.65 salary to the kansas city chiefs for a 2nd round draft pick (34th overall) ... in mid july scott pioli and the kansas city chiefs signed matt cassel to a 6-year, $63 million ($28 million guaranteed) contract

some would comment that bernard pollard ... the man who took out tom brady ... made matt cassel a $63 million dollar man ... i would suggest bernard pollard's unfortunate hit on tom brady's knee opened an opportunity for a loyal, bright, hard working company man ... who seized the moment and made the absolute best of the opportunity ... and made himself a $63 million dollar man ... now matt cassel and bernard pollard are teammates in kansas city ... thank you matt cassel for leading the patriots through a challenging 2008 to a successful conclusion ... and best wishes for much success out in kansas city (as long as it is not against the patriots)

since the day matt cassel was drafted ... comparisions to tom brady have been made ... one i'd make ... each just seems to know the right things to say ... and each says it well ... click to listen to the nfl network's preseason interview of matt cassel