ShareThisNow we know who was the brains of the outfit.
New Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli just outsmarted, outmanuevered, flat out committed grand larceny on one of his former employers, the Patriots of New England.
Quarterback Matt Cassel and veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel for a second-round pick?
Has he got pictures of Bill Belichick dressed up as a St. Louis Ram and taking part in practice the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in the Louisiana Superdome? Does he have financial info Robert Kraft wouldn't want the IRS to know?
He has to have some leverage nobody knows about. Otherwise, why would the Patriots let Cassel go for a two, and then throw in Vrabel to sweeten the deal?
Actually, let's forget Vrabel. As much as Patriots fans love the guy, he's 33 years old and his best years clearly are behind him. It's questionable whether he would have brought even a fourth-round pick in a trade.
But Cassel?
The Patriots were never going to get Kansas City's first-round pick, the third overall in the draft. But it's not as if the Chiefs weren't in need. The Patriots should have been dealing from strength. The Chiefs are one of the NFL's weakest teams.
Pioli got a first-hand look at the Chiefs' QB situation in the 2008 opener -- the game when Tom Brady tore up his knee and was lost for the season, creating an opening for Cassel.
Although, as everyone now knows, Cassel hadn't started a game since he was in high school, he led New England to an 11-5 record, which in almost any other NFL season would have been good enough for a playoff berth.
He was no Brady, but who is? Cassel proved to be smart, capable, and he continued to improve as the season went along.
It's hard to believe the market wasn't there for the Patriots to make a better deal for his services. Once they were assured Brady was on schedule to be ready for the start of the '09 season, Cassel was expendable. The Pats had designated him their franchise player, assuring him of earning $14.65 million this season, and guaranteeing New England a pair of first-round picks if Cassel received a contract offer the Pats didn't want to match.
That was never going to happen. Two No. 1s always were out of the question. But there seemed to be no question that a later first-round pick, or perhaps a first-round pick in 2010, wasn't unreasonable if teams began clamoring for Cassel.
Perhaps the market wasn't there. Surely, the Pats explored all possibilities. Yet it seems hard to believe, considering the quality -- that term is used here very loosely -- of quarterbacking in the NFL, that all New England could get for him was a second-round pick, to which they had to add the still-capable, and versatile, Vrabel in the bargain.
The bargain, it appears, is all on the side of Kansas City.
Pioli earned a reputation for brilliance in New England. He's already begun to enhance that image, at the Patriots' expense.
Yes, the Pats have cleared considerable cap space -- nearly $19 million -- by moving Cassel and Vrabel. Perhaps they'll use it to sign a dominant defender, such as Julius Peppers. Certainly, they need help on defense.
But the cap room was going to be there once Cassel was traded, and there never was any doubt he was going to be dealt.
Clearly, the Patriots aren't done dealing. New England now has to hope that, when all is said and done, the Pats will do as well as Pioli and the Chiefs already have done.
(Contact Jim Donaldson at jdonalds@projo.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Providence Journal
