they better hope that brady doesn’t go down again…on the field i mean…

This alleged plot to screw McDaniels sounds like Patriot paranoia but in any event, the Patriots hurt themselves in this whole business. They got only a second-round draft pick for Cassel and Vrabel by making a quick trade to help out their buddy Scott Pioli and get some salary cap relief rather than let trade interest in Cassel build up. And Cutler might now very well end up with the Jets. If McDaniels and Pat Bowlen think the Patriots played a hand in all this, then they have the means to make life more difficult for the Patriots by sending Cutler to the AFC East. I wouldn’t put anything past Bellichek, but he obviously knows the Jets need a QB so I doubt he would light a match under a situation that could blow up in his face. The mess in Denver was not created by the trade of Cassel, but by how McDaniels and Cutler have reacted to it. McDaniels was not honest to the player and Cutler has acted like a little baby.

had a chance to be the bigger man and come out of this situation as the locked-in leader of the Broncos. Instead, he let his ego put him in a tenuous situation: having to learn a new team, new playbook and new city. And, breaking news has Cutler in Chicago: a team with issues.

 Denver was just a few defensive plays away from a strong playoff run this year. Why McDaniels wanted to even consider Cassel is beyond me. But- Josh knew Cassel(and his capabilities) better than anyone. Maybe he thought Cassell was the better man for the job. If the Patriots hadn’t decided to go with KC at the last minute, the trade for Cassell to Denver would have gone down before Cutler’d had time to react, and would have likely put NE in a position to turn around and trade Cutler for more high draft picks. They certainly don’t need him as a QB….unless Tommy Terrrific is less well-healed than we all suppose.

 And no: this is NOT “Patriots paranoia”. The facts are the facts; NE pulled the plug on the trade to Denver, picking KC instead, despite Denver’s(allegedly) big offer. By doing this, NE really did put a hurting on a good team. The Broncos are now in turmoil, instead of a player or two from contention. In hindsight it was a master-stroke of strategy on the part of the Patriots. They just knocked out one team with a history of challenging them on the football field.

 With Cutler gone to Chicago, NE won’t have to face him in the post-season, unless/until the Bears make it to the Big Show.

 I don’t think this was shady dealing at all. If anything, it was genius. How many teams have the balls to pull the switcheroo on a trade at the last second this way? Only the Pats could get away with it, IMHO.

 I’m not the least bit paranoid about NE. They have cheated in the past; that’s a FACT, not conjecture. But- they’ve also been one of(if not THE) shrewdest FO’s in the NFL most of this century. Give them credit where credit is due.

 My apologies for not adding more to the discussion, but i’ve been tied up lately…

Well obviously if there was no Cassel to be traded there would have been no crying Emo Cutter. And so that is where it all begins.

I dont really believe the Cheatriots managed to put this one together. But obviously their mere presence made it happen.

The Patriots put the franchise tag on Cassel for one reason only, to get value out of their investment in him. As soon as they did that they created a trade market instead of a free agent frenzy. The fixed compensation for his tag was two first-round draft picks. The Broncos, who seemingly preferred Cassel over Cutler, received two first-round picks, a third-round pick and a starting QB from the Bears in exchange for Cutler and a fifth-rounder. The Patriots got a second-round draft pick for Cassel AND Vrabel. How is this maximizing the value of an asset? A team trying to trade a good player will usually use trade interest to leverage the best deal possible. Several teams were interested in Cassel, and the best the Patriots could leverage out of it was a second-round pick, and throwing in a valuable veteran like Vrabel, too? It would just be a ridiculously bad trade if not for the fact the recipient of this largesse was Bill Pioli, the former Patriots assistant GM. When you have a chance to get a first-round pick (if not more) for your team, and instead get a second-rounder while in the process also getting rid of a valuable team leader, then you’ve obviously hurt your franchise.

is there some assumption that i thought the Pats saw Cutler flipping out? I don’t think anyone could have predicted that. The Patriot organization did, however, pull out of the Cassell trade to Denver at the last second and sent him to KC unexpectedly instead. AND- the word of the trade talks was “leaked” before the KC trade was finalized.

 NE couldn’t have known that Cutler would simply quit on the Broncos, but they certainly knew they were creating strife by exposing semi-secret trade talks at the last moment. It was either dirty pool or simply excellent gamesmanship on their part, depending on how you view the Pats overall.