QB Matt Cassel and his passing numbers continue to open eyes for all the wrong reasons after 11 games. His 77.6 passer rating ranks No. 22 in the league and he ranks No. 20 or lower in every category except touchdown passes (tied-16th) and interceptions (tied-11th). His average gain of 5.93 yards ranks No. 29 among starting quarterbacks. Only Kerry Collins, Brady Quinn and JaMarcus Russell rank lower.  (Yahoo! Sports)

Cassel and the Chiefs worked out a six-year deal that will pay him in excess of $10 million a season. The contract will keep Cassel with the Chiefs until 2014. The deal is for $63 million, with $28 million guaranteed. He's going to make $40.5 million in the first three years of his contract.

Here's my take on Matt after watching 11 games this season wearing #7:

Cassel's positives:  Gutsy and seemingly a fighter, obviously not very injury prone, good leader, surprisingly mobile, throws well on the run, average accuracy on the short and itermediate routes.

Cassel's Negatives:  Extremely tentative decision maker, holds on to the ball longer than most QB, average arm strength,  real accuracy problems deep. One more thing is that - he's not showing much trust in his receivers (though that may be a Haley-thing for making the WR position a revolving door)

Any chance Pioli may draft a QB in 2010? I may not be giving up on Cassel necessarily by wanting to draft a QB but I like the QB crop coming in 2010 draft. Problem with Cassel's play this year is that we're all pointing fingers at the o-line but what if he performs the same with an upgraded o-line? I just hate the fact that if it takes more than 2 seasons to evaluate if Cassel's worth franchise money, it may cost the Chiefs a chance to dabble at a potential franchise QB in 2010. Or when we are convinced that we do need a franchise QB from the draft in 2011, the QB crop may not be as good?

I know it may pre-mature to think of drafting a QB since we need much more such as O-line, NT, FB, S, WR, TE and a viable RB that could spell Charles if not be the starter. The good thing is - at the beginning of this season I thought that our LBs were the weakest, but I like what Mays, Studebaker, Hali, Demorio and Belcher (though we know Javon can't cover TE's ie. Antonio Gates) have done.