Matt Cassel is a Kansas City Chief

The New England Patriots have sent their back-up quarterback Matt Cassel and veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs for their second round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Cassel, who was franchised by the Pats on February 5th, was coming into the season as the insurance policy just in case Tom Brady got hurt again or wasn’t ready to start the season.

In making this deal, the Patriots are making the statement that Brady will start the season healthy, or at least I hope so. Because if Tom isn’t ready to go by week one, New England will get ripped by their fans and the media.

Kansas City makes away like bandits in this deal.

They basically dealt a second round pick for Cassel and then get a very vocal defensive leader in Mike Vrabel for free.

The addition of Cassel gives the Chiefs great flexibility when it comes to their pick in the NFL Draft. Now Kansas City can take the best OT available, Aaron Curry to go along side with Vrabel, or Michael Crabtree who would give the team three terrific options with Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez as the other two.

Matt should fit into his new system very well. With Todd Haley as the head coach, Cassel will be asked to do what all quarterbacks do best—excluding Tony Romo who is best at being the worst—throw the football, and he will be asked to do it often.

This deal also gives the Chiefs the option of trading quarterbacks Tyler Thigpen or Brodie Croyle.

Matt finished with 3693 yards and 21 TDs least season.

The biggest loser in all of this is USC’s Mark Sanchez. It is now a strong possibility that Sanchez free falls in the draft, possibly all the way to the Jets.