Patriots Making The Right Move Using Franchise Tag on Matt Cassel

Reports have begun to surface that the New England Patriots are going to franchise Matt Cassel. I'm inclined to believe that those reports are true.

Look, I’ve been driving the franchise Matt Cassel bandwagon for weeks now. I think it’s the only decision the Patriots could have made here.

No smart football team lets an asset like Matt Cassel go without getting anything in return (when they can prevent it from happening, anyway).

No smart football team lets a potential franchise quarterback go free when one of their biggest competitors is looking for a franchise quarterback of their own.

No smart football team lets a quality quarterback go when their current starting quarterback is still walking with a limp and might need to undergo another operation.

Quarterbacks in football are like pitchers in baseball, you can never have too many good ones.

I understand the salary cap implications. I understand that, for one season, he’ll be making more money than Tom Brady.

So what?

There’s no shortage of teams who need a quarterback. If the Patriots decide that Tom Brady’s healthy, they can trade Cassel to the highest bidder.

And if, God forbid, Tom Brady isn’t healthy, then who cares about the cap hit? Would you rather have cap space or a quarterback?

The Patriots are about $22 million under the cap. They’re not likely to be active in free agency, at least for the big-priced free agents. They’ll be adding depth through the draft, where they have five picks in the first three rounds (assuming they get a third round pick as compensation for Asante Samuel).

Giving away $12 million in cap space to ensure you have a quality starting quarterback next season is a small price to pay.

To those who don’t think it’s fair to Matt Cassel, I agree. It’s not fair. He’s paid his dues. He deserves to be a free agent. He earned the right to become a free agent.

But the NFL and the NFLPA set up the rules. Matt Cassel has to play by them.

I’m sure he understands that the Patriots can’t allow him to go to the Jets. They can’t allow themselves to be in a position where they don’t have a starting quarterback next season.

And they can’t allow him to leave without getting anything in return.

To those of you who say the Patriots won’t be able to trade him because teams will know that they have to, I say you’re wrong.

Do you realize how many teams need a good quarterback?

Off the top of my head, there’s Tampa Bay, Minnesota, New York Jets, Chicago, Kansas City, Detroit, and San Francisco. If you get two of those teams involved in a bidding war, you’ll get yourself a decent haul.

Anyway, point is, the Patriots, assuming the reports are true, are making the right decision.

You don't get to be the best team of the decade by letting potential franchise quarterbacks go free without getting anything in return.

Sean Crowe covers the New England Patriots for Examiner.com and writes a bi-weekly column for Sports-Central.org.

He is a Senior Writer and an NFL Community Leader at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail]. His archive can be found here.