Patriots give QB Matt Cassel the ‘franchise’ tag
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The New England Patriots said earlier today that quarterback Matt Cassel is the club’s fourth player to be given the franchise tag designation. Cassel is the first offensive player to win that designation with the Patriots. He joins Adam Vinatieri (2002 and 2005), Tebucky Jones (2003) and Asante Samuel (2007).
Cassel, a back-up quarterback during his years at USC, took over as the Patriots’ starting quarterback during the first game of the past season when Tom Brady was sidelined for the year by a knee injury.
Here’s part of what the Boston Globe had to say about the move:
The cost of the franchise tag (the average of the top five highest-paid players at a given position) on Cassel is a one-year tender for $14.65 million, according to the transition and franchise tag numbers released Jan. 30 by the NFL Players Association. Since the franchise tenders are guaranteed, Cassel would count more against the cap than Brady, who is scheduled to carry a cap charge of $14.62 million for 2009. Brady is slated to have a $5 million base salary in 2009 and is due a $3 million roster bonus, so Cassel’s take-home pay for ’09 would also be more than Brady’s.
The Patriots could end up trading the former USC back-up quarterback if Brady continues to recover from his season-ending knee injury. But Patriots Coach Bill Belichick wasn’t giving away his plans. Here’s what he said in a statement released by the team:
Matt has been a pleasure to coach his entire career and last season in particular, when his years of hard work and commitment resulted in a most impressive performance. We look forward to working with Matt again in 2009.
-- Greg Johnson