Chiefs take a risky leap of faith in their QB. Matt Bowen
I’m a big fan of the Terrell Suggs deal with the Baltimore Ravens that was announced today, giving the linebacker a contract reportedly worth $63 million.
APTerrell Suggs
Our own Andrew Brandt broke down the deal earlier, and for a variety of reasons, I think the Ravens made the right choice in offering the extension.
For starters, the Ravens play a certain brand of football. They win — and have always won — games by playing a certain style of attacking defense that produces turnovers and points, and to be honest, Suggs is the future of this defense.
We all know that Ray Lewis — the unquestioned leader of the franchise — can still play at a high level, but he’s lost a step and will soon have to turn over his leadership role. And what better player to hand it to than Suggs?
In this regard, the Ravens just spent money that will produce a quick return in terms of production and leadership. There was a reason Baltimore let Bart Scott walk and sign with the Jets earlier this offseason, and in my opinion, it was because they were sold on the fact that Suggs — not Scott — was the eventual replacement as the team’s cornerstone.
Because that’s what wins in Baltimore.
Few teams still do it outside of New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh in the AFC, but all of those teams — including the Ravens — have a certain style they play, a certain culture they live and a certain accountability they place on all of their players.
By signing Suggs to a deal that will most likely keep him in Baltimore for the rest of his career, the Ravens can continue to build their franchise on strong defensive talent from within.
That’s something that gets overlooked in cities like Washington and Dallas, which scour the free-agent market every offseason looking for a quick fix.
Real good move by the Ravens and GM Ozzie Newsome.
I’m not a big fan of the Matt Cassel deal that was announced Tuesday with the Kansas City Chiefs and that — like Suggs’ deal — is reported to be valued at $63 million. I still see it as a leap of faith on the part of the Chiefs.
APNow a member of the Chiefs, Cassel is making more money than Tom Brady.
Brandt did an excellent job today breaking down the deal, and despite the fact that all starting quarterbacks in this league are paid top dollar — or should be — I’m wondering if the Chiefs really know what they have.
It’s easy for us to put Cassel into the upper echelon of quarterbacks because he played in a big market last season, was a top story after replacing the face of the league in Tom Brady and won some games.
But the bottom line is that Cassel didn’t win enough games to get the Patriots into the playoffs. Those are just the facts.
Now Cassel is in K.C. with a new deal that pays him enough money up front that the Chiefs are committed to him for the foreseeable future. And he steps under center without Randy Moss or Wes Welker -- and without Tony Gonzalez for that matter.
Yes, I agree that the Chiefs are a in a building process right now. They have one weapon on the outside in WR Dwayne Bowe and are lucky enough to play in the AFC West, which puts them in some matchups that they could win. But how much do we believe in Cassel?
Is he a product of the Patriots’ team or is he the next big thing at the quarterback position like, well, Brady was before Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury all those years ago?
This remains to be seen, but this kind of commitment speaks volumes for the faith that Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and new head coach Todd Haley have in Cassel. They know you need a quarterback to win in this league, and they’ve watched him all offseason, while we haven’t.
For the sake of Chiefs fans, I hope Cassel proves me wrong.
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I agree that the Suggs deal had to be done... lock up your own talent.
Cassel, on the other hand, should have to prove he deserves a long term deal.
Let's see, $63 Million for a guy who proved he can be successful in the NFL given the right situation, or $70 Million for a rookie? Which of those do you think is the better deal?
Time will tell on Cassel. If he can produce 8 wins with Kansas City's supporting cast, he's underpaid.
Let's see, $63 Million for a guy who proved he can be successful in the NFL given the right situation, or $70 Million for a rookie? Which of those do you think is the better deal?
Suggs is a known quantity, and his production has outlasted a single season. Funny that teams skipped over him on a combine dash time when he didn't run with a sprinter's lean and lost half a second on his time. The filkm don't lie, he is game material.
Cassel cannot say that, but he can say that his coaching has been the very best at the last two game levels he played. Being coached up to play great is huge at that position, a necessity for rebuilding.
matt cassel didn't make the playoffs, but he did win 11 games last season. those are just facts.
Your an idiot. He won 11 games dude. To day they didn't make the playoffs is irrelevent and logically unsound. Is a quarterback who wins 9 games and makes the playoffs a better player? It was his first year starting and he got better as the season progressed. Haley will turn Bowe into the next Boldin and maybe we will get Boldin in a trade.
Cassel turned into a holey terror by the second half of the season. It wasn't the running game, and it wasn't the defense that put 49 points up on the board in a driving rain, or 48 points against the rival Dolphins in an away game, or 47 points in a blizzard. The Patriots running game was mostly injured and on the bench. This was mostly Cassel, and after the other teams got to know his weaknesses. That's why he commands the big Benjamins. He credibly threatens to earn it week after week, and Scott Pioli knows his Patriots.
Cassel not getting the Patriots into the Playoffs is a "fact," not "facts."
That is a fact, but in is unclear how it supports your argument. The guy won 11 games after not playing for 7 years!! What more did you expect?
And for his 5 losses:
Dolphins: the wildcat game where the Pats were completely overwhelmed
Colts: Pats lose by 3 on the road. Gaffney drops a sure touchdown in the fourth and Thomas has a bonehead 15 yd penalty on the Pats last drive in Colts territory.
Pittsburgh: Super Bowl Champs. Enough said.
Jets: Singlehandedly kept the Pats in the game with a 400 yard effort, not to mention a brilliant game winning drive.
Chargers: Bad road loss early in the year in which Cassel (and the the entire team) did not play very well.
And, oh by the way, he won his last 4 games - all must wins.
Those are also facts. Point is - there are alot of riskier propositions then investing in a big, strong, mobile QB who won 11 games last season. See, e.g., Stafford and/or Sanchez.
Not a very well reasoned article/argument (especially when juxaposed with the praise heaped on the Ravens for commiting $30+ million to their second or third best defensive player).
"But the bottom line is that Cassel didn’t win enough games to get the Patriots into the playoffs. Those are just the facts."
Well, he won enough games to get to the playoffs in the NFC or in the AFC west. That's more than you can say for guys like Cutler, Favre, Brees, and Rivers! He won 11 games!
And as Brandt deftly points out, the Chiefs are only REALLY guaranteeing Cassel $7 million more for 2010. 2009 was already guaranteed, and if they cut him before the roster bonus (due after the '10 season) they're off the hook. But the Chiefs ARE insured against Cassel becoming a perennial pro bowler with a fairly reasonable long-term deal. The Chiefs will be way under the cap in '10 even if Cassel is horrible and they have to cut him in week 4.
Cassel sure looked great against Pittsburgh...worth every dollar!
Zander the Great-
Did you even read the Suggs part, or just skip and go to your new boy in Cassel? Matt said Suggs was paid to keep him in Baltimore and it does make sense because Ray Ray is old, Ed Reed is soon to be old, and he is next in line to keep that franchise running as a defensive brand.
Thats why they were in the AFC Championship and have one of the best defenses of all time in this last decade.
As for Cassel, he played with an All-Star team at wide receiver last year... What does he have now? A fat Dwyane Bowe? Have fun.
I figured there would be some Cassel fans on here, but let's be realistic here people... the guy is now playing on one of the worst teams in the league.
It will take some time.
The Patriots measure their players' performance very precisely, and every now and then Belichick will talk about this in his press conferences. They don't grade running backs on yards per carry, for example - they also figure in whether the play was blocked correctly. For QBs, I'd guess that they keep track of how quickly they make passing decisions and how good those decisions are. The point is to get accurate assessments for individual players in a team game - a difficult trick.
We don't know what they used to measure Cassel's performance, but Scott Pioli knew them and had probably compared those numbers to other QBs in the league. He'd also seen lots of great intangibles -- having a great game against the Raiders the same week his father died, the second half comeback against the Jets, and above all getting the team to believe in him.
I'm not saying this was a good deal or a bad deal -- just that Pioii is very probably acting on a lot more than gut instinct, and probably using a lot of data that indicate how well Cassel will perform in his new situation in KC.
Da Coach,
For the record, I happen to be a Pats Fan. I was simply pointing out that Mr. Bowen's argument was lacking and that a very good argument can be made for Cassel getting as much money as Sanchez or A. Rodgers, for example.
The fact that Cassel did not make the playoffs is simply not a very good argument, especially since he did win 11 games.
As for Suggs, why do you hold Moss and Welker (and Belichick) against Cassel but don't hold Lewis, Reed and Scott (and Rex Ryan) against Suggs? How do we know how he'd perform being the main man in a lesser defense?
hey ncoolong,
How did Ben Roethlisberger look against the Giants last year? How much is he getting paid? Probably too much considering he turned around the next week and posted a 15.1 QB rating against the Skins.
How about Peyton Manning's 125 yard, 2 pick 0 TD effort at Cleveland. I bet Indy fans are pissed they locked that bum up for the long term.
I hear there's a lot of buzz for this Cutler guy going to Chicago. Does Angelo know he stunk it up in his home stadium against Oakland of all teams last year?
What exactly was your point again? Can you find any starting QB that didn't have a terrible and embarrassing game or three last year?
Cassel is as good as any of these hot shot rookie QB's who also got big contracts, so would you rather pay a # 1 draft pick who's unproven or pay Cassel who at least showed he can win in this league. Plus, the reason NE didnt make the playoffs was their defense stunk, so even if Brady was healthy, they weren't winning in playoffs with that D.
Considering that Pittsburgh received perfect weather for a running team that day, all sleet, Cassel did great in the first half. Even with all the slippery passes dropped, New England would have led Pittsburgh at the half except for a sleet-influenced field-goal attempt that missed. Credit to Pittsburgh for coming back in the second half.
Another great move by Ozzie. I'm aPacker fan but I have a lot of respect for the Raven's organization. I was a little worried there that they offened Suggs and that he was going to walk. Glad that worked out for both sides.
Pat fans, you're right. Cassel played very well when given the opportunity. Whether his success was the result of his high level of play (which he did display as the season progessed) or the system/supporting cast is debatable. You can't deny the fact that for a guy of his inexperience, he was put in the best position you could possibly hope for as a QB.
That being said, I think the real question is how sucessful can he be in a new system he hasn't had three years to study combined with a new supporting cast that is not even close to the one in NE talent wise. If Cassel really was the main reason the Pats were successful last year then this was money well spent. But he has een taken way out of his comfort zone and there's no telling how he will react to the situation in terms of success.
I think the whole point of the article is that it may not be a bad idea to wait a season, pay him the tag amount....only because they can afford it....and make him show you beyon a reasonable doubt that NE success WAS because he is a good QB and not a product of a system.
Cassel's mobility actually hinted he may be a stronger red zone Qb than Brady.
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Jul 15, 2009
04:29 PM
Cassel will be good, but he is overpaid....