Patriots Franchise Matt Cassel

As noted by Pro Football Talk, Thursday was the first day NFL teams could designate franchise or transition players. These designations are not taken lightly, as they carry huge salary cap implications and can often rub players the wrong way, because I guess they don't like those guaranteed $10 million-plus salaries.

It's likely that the most interesting of these decisions belonged to the New England Patriots. With Tom Brady on the shelf for virtually the entire 2008 season, Matt Cassel came in and played well. He was set to be an unrestricted free agent (note use of "was").

The Patriots didn't waste any time slapping the franchise tag on Cassel.

"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," said Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick. "We look forward to working with Matt again in 2009."

This isn't a cheap maneuver by New England. They're looking at spending $14 million in straight salary on Cassel for 2009 by franchising him. The obvious solution when dealing with a high salary cap number on a franchise player is to give him a long-term deal. However, can the Patriots give Cassel a big-money deal when they already have Brady under contract and handsomely paid?

Probably not.

Plus, everyone - Cassel included - knows this is Brady's team. Once he returns, Cassel returns to wearing a baseball cap and holding a clipboard, with his only hope of starting another Brady injury or a complete Culpepper-esque implosion.

Or is the franchise tag being used so the Patriots retain Cassel's rights, thus making a trade possible? This way, New England (who does have the cap room) can dangle the carrot to quarterback-needy teams while having full control of the situation.

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