Could Matt Cassel End Up With the New York Jets in 2009?

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The Matt Cassel bandwagon is taking on passengers, and deservedly so. After a shaky start to the season, Cassel has thrown for 400 yards in back-to-back games, and as Peter King so excitedly explains to us every Sunday night, the lifetime backup stands to make a lot of money this offseason.

He'll be an unrestricted free agent, and assuming he doesn't return to New England to resume his role as "that guy on the depth chart behind Tom Brady," there are plenty of teams that could be interested in his services.

During today's CBS Pregame Show, Charley Casserly's hair speculated on potential destinations for Cassel.

"If I'm Matt Cassel, here's what I do: I want to go with a team that has a chance to win. Who are those team? Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay -- both could be in the playoff this year -- and one other team I'd call ... how about the arch rival, the New York Jets? That's right, good football team, new stadium, [they] pay their players well, and Brett Favre may not come back -- they'll need a starting quarterback. That would really add a lot to that rivalry.

And guess what? Next year's opening game? Matt Cassel and Tom Brady. We could see that.

Yes, that certainly would add something to the rivalry.

And, ultimately, this will all depend on Favre, who has a history of indecision when discussing his retirement plans. Also worth mentioning: Cassel has had the great fortune to play with one of the most explosive offenses ever assembled.

And while the Jets have improved as Favre has grown more comfortable in the system, is there any indication that Cassel will duplicate or improve on that? I'm not convinced, particularly if it costs New York upwards of six million a year.

But we're still in Week 13; let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-30-2008 @ 4:43PM

JH said...

Matt Cassel is playing extraordinary and questions are asked about his future. Some even said that he will replace Tom Brady as the starter for the Pats next season. Reason being Tom Brady is now damaged goods and Bellichick wants loves the young quarterbacks. Cassel has proven he can play and start in the NFL, so wuts next for this QB. my thoughts http://jib-sports-culture.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-if-patriots-won-super-bowl-with.html

11-30-2008 @ 5:45PM

Jesse said...

Wow. Really JH? Extraordinary? Thats a bit much. People are tending to forget its more of the offense around him then the actual QB. This is actually one of the very very few articles i have seen mention that its more of the weapons and coaching he has and that he might not succeed when he goes elsewhere. Trust me, it's more of Randy Moss, Welker, Oline, and really solid playcalling and coaching. You could put any regular QB to slightly better then average QB in this system and he would be playing this well.Then you put an "extraordinary" QB in it and it does things (over the course of the entire season, not just 2 games if you try to bring up Cassel's last 2) that the league has never seen in it's ENTIRE HISTORY, like the Patriots did last year with having Brady in the same system. Brady broke QB records left and right and that offense was the best the NFL has ever seen. So dont you think that is where the word "extraordinary" would be more appropriate to use? So no the Patriots will not trade Tom and no Cassel will not have near the success on the next team he plays. Everyone really needs to talking about him like he can compare to the Tom Bradys, Peyton Mannings, and Drew Brees s of the league.
P.S. I am not a Pats fan so this is an entirely unbiased opinion about actual football talk and not i like this guy or that guy. Im a Saints fan.
And God could you imagine putting Brees in that system! He is setting records playing with 4th and 5th stringers most of the season ... give him Moss, Welker, etc. and it would break the records they set last year.