Why Did the Kansas City Chiefs Sign Matt Cassel to a New Contract Now?
by Joel Thorman on Jul 15, 2009 9:24 AM CDT
in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Offseason
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There seem to be two schools of thought emerging regarding the Kansas City Chiefs franchise record deal given to quarterback Matt Cassel. The first school says that the team locked him up now before the market grew and made it even more expensive to sign him. The second is that the team overpaid for someone who hasn't proven anything outside of the best offensive system since Bill Walsh invented the West Coast offense.
Which one is right?
I'm with the school of thought that signing him now was the best option. Yes, it's a lot of money but given the alternatives it's the cheapest route.
"Philip Rivers and Eli Manning are in the final years of their contracts. If they get long-term deals, the price of signing quarterbacks goes that much higher. The time was right to do a deal. This was an important negotiation for the team and the Chiefs did well." -John Clayton, ESPN.com
If you thought $63 million was a lot of money, then imagine what the potential of $100 million deals given to Philip Rivers and Eli Manning would have done to the market. The top two quarterbacks picked in the 2004 draft are due for new contracts this year and by all accounts they will re-set the market value for quarterbacks.
The Chiefs got a jump on the fluid market of NFL quarterbacks and received the best value for Cassel.
The Chiefs should have waited a year to see what they've got.
What's the problem with this?
A) You would pay Cassel $14.651 million this year and, in the best case scenario, he plays well and you sign him to an even bigger long-term contract following the season.
So, either pay him six years, $63 million total OR you pay him $14.651 million in 2009 + six years, $63+ million next year.
B) Let's say he struggles in 2009. Do we really think Pioli would give up on Cassel after one year? I believe Pioli has seen enough of Cassel that he would stick with him to try and make it work, especially considering the second round pick given up for him and that a contract would have to be in place if a trade was an option. So, the Chiefs decide to franchise him again in 2010 meaning he'd be looking at approximately $32 million guaranteed in two seasons.
That's more than he's getting right now.
***
Bottom line? If the Chiefs are committing to Cassel for more than one season then this is the cheapest route, by a long shot. Cassel can focus on football, not finances, and the Chiefs now have a manageable cap salary in years 4-6 when Cassel is only due $22.5 million, which is pennies compared to other starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
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Excellent Analysis
And I agree wholeheartedly. This was a shrewd move by the top personnel guy in the NFL.
Chiefs go 9-7. LJ makes 1400 yards. DBowe makes 1200 yards. Defense #18.
Couldn't agree more.
Its not a crazy deal (these days for an NFL QB, anyway, it would be crazy money for me) that is out of line with the standard right now. Plus, if he were to excel and they offer him a deal next year the agent would wait until Rivers and Mannings deals got done and go for that kind of money. Derek Anderson got a similar kind of deal (although technically less for less time): (via rotoworld)
blockquote>2/29/2008: Signed a three-year, $24 million contract. The deal contains $14.5 million guaranteed, including a $7 million signing bonus. Another $1 million is available through incentives based on Pro Bowls and performance. 2009: $1.45 million (+ $50,000 workout bonus + $5 million guaranteed roster bonus due 3/15), 2010: $7.45 million (+ $2 million roster bonus), 2011: Free Agent. Cap charge: $8.8 million (2009).
I’m of the opinion that, for the nearly $15 million the Chiefs were already going to have to pay him, whats another $9 million to aid the cap the next two years as insurance for his sucess?
Herm Edwards: "There's FOUR quarters in football?!"
bah
quote messed up:
2/29/2008: Signed a three-year, $24 million contract. The deal contains $14.5 million guaranteed, including a $7 million signing bonus. Another $1 million is available through incentives based on Pro Bowls and performance. 2009: $1.45 million (+ $50,000 workout bonus + $5 million guaranteed roster bonus due 3/15), 2010: $7.45 million (+ $2 million roster bonus), 2011: Free Agent. Cap charge: $8.8 million (2009).
Herm Edwards: "There's FOUR quarters in football?!"
awesome work!
Joel – nice piece man. Totally agreed
by Matt Conner on Jul 15, 2009 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions
Does it really matter?
It’s a done deal. I’m glad for Matt, he stayed with it and hung in there for those years to get where he is today. Good for him.
Yeah, let's just keep matriculatin' the ball down the field, boys! ...
Order your Arrowhead Pride Wolf Pack T-shirt at ARROWHEAD ATTITUDE
Cassel obviously has the tools to win... he has shown enough to know that.
The only thing that would be in question at this point would be work ethic and we all know how the bigwigs feel about Cassels work ethic.
He is obviously a smart kid and as long as the Chiefs coaches put him in a position to succeed he will watch the tape and do everything he needs to do to perform and win.
I feel very strongly that we now have some of the best leaders in the league working for our franchise and this is going to be a very, very successful franchise in years to come as well as this season.
IS IT FOOTBALL SEASON YET???
And a stake is driven into the heart of all the Thiggy fans
And there was much rejoicing. y-e-a-h :-(
At least the debate is finally officially over…….(fade to black…..TAPS playing softly in the background).
by Your_Moms_Boyfriend on Jul 15, 2009 10:05 AM CDT reply actions
No Kidding!!!
It can finally be understood once and for all.
Cassel is the man.
in Pioli we trust
That is what everyone was saying when we hired Scott as GM. The guy knows football and football players…if Pioli thinks Cassel is the real deal and worth that kind of money than its good enough for me. I’m going o give Pioli at least 2 seasons before i start questioning his decisions.
Remember
Pioli has been around Cassel a lot longer than we have been around Cassel.
Yeah, let's just keep matriculatin' the ball down the field, boys! ...
Order your Arrowhead Pride Wolf Pack T-shirt at ARROWHEAD ATTITUDE
This contract will define Pioli's legacy.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of great decisions to come. I’m sure there are alot more decisions & contracts forthcoming by September. This is exciting news & gives us something to talk about.
“Wise men don’t talk much. They do however, make wise decisions”.
I’m counting on Scott Pioli to be one of those wise men.
A superbowl will define him.
That’s what I want out of Pioli. Either he brings a Superbowl win to KC, or he doesn’t. If he wins a superbowl, he can show up at Arrowhead every day wearing ladies underwear, and he’ll still get more respect than Peterson.
I think he
will probably be ok.
He looked pretty good last year, he did have some problems in the red zone and NE kicked allot of field goals.
Some of the sacks he took were running out of bounds behind the line and some he took he should have thrown the ball away instead of the sack.
These are all things that can be fixed hopefully and we will have a good solid qb down the road.
years 4-6 are bogus
This contract is really a 3 year deal. And that is regardless of whether Cassel plays well or not. There aren’t any bargain basement years for the Chiefs in this deal.
If Cassel plays well and the Chiefs have success with him as the QB, negotiations for an extension/new contract will begin in Cassel’s 3rd season. There is no way a successful Cassel will take a pay cut to play for the Chiefs in year 4 of this deal. If the Chiefs don’t have a new deal in place for their star QB before year 4, Cassel pulls a Vrabel/Waters and stays away from the off-season program and maybe holds out of training camp or beyond. The Chiefs would be insane to let that happen, so they work out a new deal before year 4.
If Cassel is a bust, the Chiefs will rid themselves of his services as soon as he has played out the years for which he has guaranteed money and find somebody else to play QB. If that happens, they might also start looking for somebody to play GM in year 4.
As an Optimist
Matt will from yesterday forward have more money than anyone could ever hope for.
SOME people and maybe Cassel is one will realize like BRADY did that you don’t get remembered
for the size of your bank account but what you did on the wall in Canton OH :)
Rule 49. " Think and talk positive football off the field." Hank Stram
Let's Kick some ASS in 09 or Die trying
by Steve_Chiefs on Jul 15, 2009 6:06 PM CDT up reply actions
The timing is nice
Lock him to 6 now, he will be 31-33 by the time we renegotiate or his contract runs out. Barring any serious injury he should be able to play effectively into his mid/late 30’s. With the current structure we can either dump, trade or re-up at an appropriate time in his career.
I like this deal. Nothing short of a Ryan Leaf like experience this next season will cause me to stray. I’m selling out. Matt Cassel bandwagon – now boarding for all destinations – I will be your mildly intoxicated conductor for the duration – please fasten your seat belts.
by Ochophosphate on Jul 15, 2009 12:39 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
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