New England Patriots Confound Haters With Trade

Hating the New England Patriots has become a cottage industry in the press.  There is a certain coterie of writers for whom everything the "Cheatriots" and "Belicheat" do must be "cheating".  Among these are Jay Mariotti, formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times, and Pete Prisco of CBS.  The most negative spin they can find on every move the Patriots make is the one they'll put on it.

A few days ago, the Patriots traded QB Matt Cassel and veteran OLB Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs for the Chiefs' second draft pick.  What was predictable was that Prisco and Mariotti would have something bad to say about the Patriots following the trade.  What was less predictable was that their complaints about the Patriots would be mutually contradictory.

Prisco's rant was the usual sort.  He said that Bill Belichick,  that old swindler, had cheated his own friend, Scott Pioli, palming off a one-season wonder QB and a washed-up old LB on the Chiefs for a pick that is so high in the second round as to be almost a first-rounder.

Mariotti's was harder to follow.  His complaint was that Belichick had given Pioli such an incredible sweetheart deal that the league should investigate it.  Apparently, if this tough operator isn't ripping off someone, he must be doing something REALLY sinister!

The truth of the deal is somewhere in between.  The Patriots sent two players whose value might be quite a bit more than that second-round pick to the Chiefs.  However, there is no assurance that their value really is that. 

It is quite possible that Cassel is a flash in the pan, with nothing to follow. Anyone who remembers Matt Cavanaugh, Frank Reich, Scott Mitchell or A.J. Feeley will prefer to wait and see if there's any more where that came from. It is just as possible that Mike Vrabel has nothing left in the tank. 

Just a few years ago, the Pats let Willie McGinest go, at the same age that Vrabel is now.  The Browns signed him and found that he was at best an average linebacker.  The Patriots, for their part, signed Chad Brown in 2005, also the same age, only to find that he had nothing left. That may be the case with Vrabel now.

If such is the case as to each of them, then the Patriots have unloaded some very disappointing players on the Chiefs for a choice that should bring a very good prospect to Foxborough.  However, there is also the upper end of the deal for the Chiefs.  What if Cassel and Vrabel are better than that?

Cassel's numbers in 2008 were those of a well above average quarterback.  He had a problem with handling the pass rush early in the year, but by November, he was not being sacked any more than most quarterbacks and he had several big games.  If he produces the same numbers for the Chiefs, he will be the best QB they have had since Trent Green's best years.  That would be worth a first-round draft choice. 

Vrabel was, as recently as 2007, one of the two or three best outside linebackers in football.  If he can recapture anything resembling that form with a new team, he would be worth a mid-round pick.  So if these players play at the level for which the Chiefs are hoping, they have acquired players worth a first and a third- or fourth-round pick all for the price of a second.

The problem the haters have is that either scenario, each providing the basis for its proponent's screech about the Patriots, is plausible.  If it is plausible, then, whether or not things turn out that way, the writer who suggested the opposite is simply engaged in hysteria.  Since both are plausible, both writers are simply ranting against a team they hate.  They are contributing nothing to any real football discussion.

Prisco is actually capable of good articles when he is not on his soapbox.  Mariotti is just showing why Ozzie Guillen reacted to him as he did.  He makes irresponsible, vicious attacks with little to back them up, and he has done so again now.