No, that's not the rule. It's only two 1sts if the Chiefs tender an offer, Thigpen accepts, and the Pats decline to match. If the Pats want to trade a tagged Cassel for less, they are within their rights to do so.
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No he isn't alone. I figure if you switched Thigpen with Cassel last year, and let Thigpen play for the Pats, things would look better for Tyler.
Do you guys recall how stagnant this offense was before Tyler came out against Tampa. The team as a whole was looking worse that Detroit. The only reason the team was competitive was because Thigpen was making Chicken Salad out of Chicken poop...
I don't want Cassel, specially with his price tag.
Alright, more football then.
Tom Brady's first year starting was 2001. He started 14 games, played in 15. His supporting cast consisted of Troy Brown and David Patten as wide receivers (no consistent TE that season) and Kevin Faulk and Antowain Smith rushing.
Matt Cassel. Started 15 games, played in 16. His supporting case consisted of Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, and Ben Watson. Running backs were in and out this season, however, the Patriots finished with the sixth best rushing offense this season.
Tyler Thigpen. Started 11 games. Played in 14. You know his supporting cast of Bowe, Gonzalez, and Johnson/Charles. The Chiefs finished with the 16th best rushing offense.
So when you break it down, yes, Cassel did better. Was it easier for him? Yes. Does that make him better than Thigpen? Hard to say, but I'm going to say no because he did not show me anything that said he was better than Thigpen. Thigpen did show me that he is inconsistent and needs to refine some of his throws. What QB doesn't need a little fine tuning.
To get Cassel, we would have to sign him long term. With Thigpen, we sign him to a backup's salary. If Thigpen does not turn out, we can draft a new QB in 2010. If Cassel does not turn out to be a good QB, then we're stuck with him because his cap figure will be as bad as LJ's.
You can not compare TT to MC because they did not have the same team around them i.e. OL, WR if TT had more than 2 seconds to throw he may have had a higher completion % you can't say. Also if he had Moss and Welker catching instead of dropping again he could have been better. Not talking about the DEF keeping the team in the game unlike ours and I am not even going into the difference in the coaches. It is like compairing apples to oranges you can't do it.
I Agree. Thigpen would not warrant a Day 1 pick. Oh by the way, we're not really in a position to be trading away QB's.
If you take off your Chiefs blinders, you'd have to agree that nobody in this league would choose Thigpen over Cassell at this point in their careers. I like Thigpen, but right now they aren't held in the same regard.
I like that idea. I was kind of surprised that we didn't go after Leftwich last year. Probably because we had Sakintosh at RT. If I recall, Leftwich is left-handed. So we could use a 3rd rounder to protect his backside by picking up a RT. Possibly someone like Loadholt. If we could land Alex Mack in the 2nd, then suddenly things would be coming together.
I wouldn't take Cassell over Thigpen for THIS particular team. Cassell isn't mobile enough to stay alive behind this O-line.
The problem with mock drafts (and I'm guilty of it too) is that they only look good if they're addressing team needs. But the consensus seems to be that you draft the best available player and only draft for need if the best available player happens to fill a need. So to say drafting a center or guard or LB in the second round is all fine and good, but it seems like the best drafting teams just take the best player available. If the Chiefs stick to that model, there's no way we're even looking at a QB at #3 and we're probably going with Thigpen under center in 2009.
This is no longer a discussion of whether who will be the Chiefs QB. I think everyone assumes it will be Thigpen because of cost and draft picks. But no one said that a team would choose Cassel over Thigpen. As fans, yeah, we choose Thigpen over Cassel. But when you look at Cassel, it is hard to give him credit for anything he did. Because of the team around him, people think that Cassel is great, but they are just blinded without looking at the facts.
And Byron Leftwich is right-handed. But it is a common mistake probably because of his name.