Free Agency Update 2/28

Many pundits and league executives predicted the current economic crisis in the country would slow down the normal pace of signings in the first days of free agency.  That wasn’t the case on Friday, but things sure did slow down on Saturday.

Here’s a late Saturday night update on the signings and movement during the second 24 hours of the ‘09 NFL season:

The  Broncos finally got a signature on a contract with long-time Eagles safety Brian Dawkins.  It’s a five-year deal for $17 m illion, with $7.2 million guaranteed.  It really works out to a two-year deal for $9 million.  Denver also signed DT Darrel Reid (Indianapolis) to a three-year, $6.8 million contract.  And, reportedly they’ve also  signed LB Andra Davis (Cleveland).

Following after the early fast pace set by the Redskins, their NFC East mates got busy themselves.  The Eagles inked OT Stacy Andrews (Cincinnati) to a six-year deal.  The Giants signed a pair of defensive players: LB Michael Boley (Atlanta) and DT Rocky Bernard (Seattle).  The Cowboys signed LB Keith Brookings, who was released earlier in the day by Atlanta.  Dallas also made a trade, sending CB Anthony Henry to Detroit for QB Jon Kitna.

Other moves:

BILLS — signed C/G Geoff  Hangartner (Carolina).

BUCCANEERS — re-signed S Will Allen and WR Michael Clayton.

49ERS – signed WR Brandon Jones (Tennessee) to a five-year, $16.5 million with $5.4 million guaranteed.

LIONS – signed WR Bryant  Johnson (San Francisco) to a three-year, $9 million contract.

SAINTS – re-signed OT Jon Stinchcomb.

TEXANS — signed DE Antonio Smith (Arizona) to a five-year deal for $35.5 million, with $12.5 million guaranteed.

Getting to Know Matt Cassel

Matthew Brennan Cassel

Born: May 17, 1982 in Northridge, California

Family: Father Greg was a Hollywood scriptwriter who passed away last November. Mother Barbara is a Hollywood set decorator and won an Emmy in 2007 for set decoration for a TV special involving singer Tony Bennett. His parents divorced when he was 14. He has two brothers and a sister. Older brother Jack is a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, after playing last year for the Houston Astros. Younger brother Justin is a pitcher in the Chicago White Sox farm system, for the Birmingham (AL) Barons, at the Double-A level. Younger sister Amanda is finishing her senior year at Long Beach State.

His paternal great-grandfather was R.G. Cassel, who was a Texas Ranger and his paternal grandfather was Joe B. Cassel, who won the Distinguished Flying Cross as a B-17 bomber pilot in World War II. He later went on to breed horses and earned a spot in the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Read More..

Chiefs Make Deal With Patriots for Cassel

The Chiefs have sent their second-round selection in the 2009 NFL Draft to the New England Patriots for quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel.

The deal was finalized Saturday morning.

“I have a long history with both players,” said Chiefs GM Scott Pioli in a team statement. “Mike and Matt are men that I respect both personally and professionally. I look forward to having them as new members of the Chiefs family.”

The Vrabel end of the deal was known Friday, when the linebacker flew to Kansas City to undergo a physical exam.

The Cassel end was speculated on for days, but became public Saturday at lunch time.

To get those two Patriots, the Chiefs give up pick No. 34 in the April draft.

In a statement released by the Patriots, head coach Bill Belichick sang Cassel’s praises.

“It is very easy to root for guys like Matt Cassel, who do everything the right way and flourish as a result,” Belichick said. “As much as we would have loved to continue working with Matt, we wish him nothing but the best as he takes this next step forward in his career.”

New England had made Cassel its franchise player and when the quarterback signed the tender offer, the team was on the line for $14.65 million dollars. More than likely, the move to acquire Cassel includes a longer term contract than just the one-year franchise number. While the Chiefs certainly have enough room to absorb more than $14 million under the salary cap, they would prefer to have a smaller number. Read More..

Matt Cassel Statistics & Game-by-Game

For a guy who had only mop up duty before September of 2008, Matt Cassel had quite an introduction to the NFL last season.

Here’s how Cassel ended up ranked in the major passing categories for the ‘08 season:

During last season, Cassel became just the fifth quarterback since the 1970 merger to throw for 400 yards or more in consecutive games. On November 13, Cassel threw for 400 yards against the New York Jets and then he came back 10 days later and threw for 415 yards against the Miami Dolphins. He joined Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Phil Simms and Billy Volek. Read More..

From the Bottom of the Bird Cage 2/28

It’s day No. 59, so we tip our hats to all the former 59s in Chiefs history, led by Donnie Edwards, Gary Spani and the unforgettable Percy Snow.

On February 28, 1940 the first televised basketball game goes on the air, between Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh. On February 28, 1983 the final episode of M*A*S*H was broadcast on CBS, with an estimated 106-125 million viewers, the most watched television episode in history.

Born on February 28, 1906 was gangster Bugsy Siegel, who would be portrayed in film by Warren Beatty, Harvey Keitel and Eric Roberts. Born on February 28, 1931 was Dean Smith, the legendary basketball coach at the University of North Carolina.

On February 28, 1916, American author Henry James passed away in London.

And, in the words of M*A*S*H character psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman: “Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.”

From the Washington Post: We’ve come to expect these big splashes from the Washington Redskins as the calendar creeps toward springtime. Nobody can be surprised to see the Champs of the Offseason strike first — and loudest — during the free agent period. Nobody can be surprised that the Redskins spent the most money to land the biggest fish to elicit the biggest wow.

The recession may apply to little people, but nothing economic was going to keep Daniel Snyder from throwing tens of millions at Albert Haynesworth in that excessive, over-the-top manner that has become Snyder’s signature as an owner.

MORE

Columnist Mike Wilbon goes on to write that the Haynesworth deal with the Redskins will either be boom or bust. Actually, when a guy with the checkered resume that Haynesworth brings to the Redskins, only one thing can justify signing him to that type of money: a Super Bowl championship. In that sense, it is very much boom or bust. Read More..

Weekend Cup O’Chiefs 2/28-3/1

As of the end of business Friday evening, the Chiefs had still not confirmed the acquisition of New England Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel.

The deal was acknowledged by Vrabel to the Boston Globe via text message late Friday afternoon. So, the fact that the deal has not been officially announced could mean nothing – just the Chiefs in their current information lockdown mode – or it could mean that something turned up in the physical exam that Vrabel took when he arrived in Kansas City on Friday.

As a soon to be 34-year old linebacker, who will play season No. 13 in 2009, Vrabel is not going to be a completely healthy specimen. There were rumors in Boston during the last part of the ‘08 season that Vrabel was nursing a sore shoulder. He denied there were any problems at the time.  But the Boston Herald reported Friday night that “a source close to him revealed Vrabel may now need surgery to repair the problem.”

As long as he passes the club’s physical, why would Scott Pioli want a 34-year old linebacker and all his mileage? The obvious answer is he wants Vrabel to come in and establish the Patriots Way in the Chiefs locker room. This becomes even more obvious after Brian Waters very public unhappiness with the new leadership duo of Pioli and Todd Haley.

There’s no question Vrabel was one of the leaders of the Patriots and one of Bill Belichick’s favorite players.

“We’ve lost perhaps our best all-around football player. Defense, offense, special teams, Vrabes did it all,” linebacker Tedy Bruschi wrote to the Herald in an e-mail. “His intelligence and on-field adjustments cannot be replaced. This team has just changed immensely.”

Pioli/Haley want somebody who is going to establish the new way of doing things at Arrowhead. That’s going to be one of Vrabel’s jobs. He’s been known throughout his college and pro career as a guy who isn’t afraid to get into a teammate’s face if he feels there might be some slacking off or less than maximum effort. Read More..

Waters Learns It’s A New Chiefs World

Brian Waters gets failing grades for his first two tests in what is the brave new world of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The veteran guard failed to understand the message that was sent to him by Scott Pioli and Todd Haley.

And then he failed again when he apparently blabbed about his frustration and emotions and the information landed in the hands of Jason Whitlock and the Kansas City Star.

We hate to link to the Star for anything because they absolutely refuse to admit this site even exists. But if you haven’t read the story of an unhappy Brian Waters, then click here. We’ll provide a better written short version.

Waters did not like what he heard at the Pro Bowl about his new head coach. Gossip around the hotel pool with guys from the Arizona Cardinals was that Haley could be aloof and difficult to deal with. Waters decided to come to Kansas City and hear straight from the guys in charge what their plans are for this team.

According to the story, Pioli would not give him a meeting and Haley only had time to chat as they walked down a hallway in the team’s offices. Reportedly Haley told Waters that he could have gone out and gotten 22 guys off the street and won two games.

This attitude or in Whitlock’s word “arrogance” angered Waters and he then tried to contact Clark Hunt, who apparently would not take his call. That’s when Waters on Thursday called Haley and asked that the team to trade him.

Now Whitlock’s story does not quote Waters by name, and says the information came from someone with “knowledge of  the situation.” Generally, that’s a player’s agent in that role. But Waters does not have an agent; he handles his contract stuff himself. So it’s pretty plain thanks to the detail in the narrative that the source of the information in the story is Waters himself, or someone Waters had spoken to in great detail. It’s either him or Haley and I think we are on very safe ground knowing it was not the head coach. Read More..

Chiefs Add Another Assistant Coach

Todd Haley continues to flesh out his coaching staff and has added Nick Sirianni as the team’s offensive quality control coach.

Sirianni comes to Kansas City after three years coaching at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, in Indiana, PA. He handled the wide receivers for the Crimson Hawks (2006-08) on the staff of Lou Tepper. IUP went 25-7 over the last three seasons on the NCAA Division II level.

He went to IUP after two seasons coaching the secondary at his alma mater, Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio (2004-05). Sirianni was a three-year starter at Mount Union as a wide receiver, catching 52 passes for 998 yards and 13 touchdowns during his senior season. During Sirianni’s time there, Mount Union won three NCAA Division III championships (2001 and 2002 as a player and 2005 as an assistant coach.)

The 27-year old Sirianni is a 1999 graduate of Southwestern Central School in Jamestown, New York.  His older brother Jay is now the head football coach at Southwestern Central and another older brother Mike is the head coach at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Chiefs Acquire Vrabel From Patriots

Veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel joined the Chiefs Friday after the club engineered a deal with the New England Patriots.

The team has not yet formally announced the trade so what the Chiefs gave up for Vrabel remains unknown.

Vrabel will be 34 years old this August and will be appearing in his 13th NFL season.  He signed eight years ago with the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent after four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He was a third-round choice (pick No. 91) of the Steelers in the 1997 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. 

With the Buckeyes, Vrabel played defensive end, but he moved to outside linebacker in the NFL. He did not get much playing time in his four seasons in Pittsburgh, appearing in 51 games, with no starts and had 43 total tackles and seven sacks.  He also contributed 23 tackles on special teams.

The Ohio native signed with the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent in March of 2001 and has played there for eight seasons in the New England defense and offense.  He’s caught 10 passes in regular and post-season play, all for touchdowns.  He also has an interception return for a touchdown, giving him 11 touchdowns in his career.

Last season, Vrabel had 60 tackles, with four sacks, one interception and one forced fumble.  During the Patriots 16-0 season of 2007, Vrabel had 77 tackles and a career high 12.5 sacks. Over his eight seasons with the Patriots, he contributed 631 tackles, 48 sacks and 11 interceptions.  He was a starter in the Pro Bowl after the 2007 season and was named to the Associated Press All-Pro first team.

Totals for his 12 years in the NFL are 674 tackles, 55 sacks, 11 interceptions, 16 forced fumbles and six fumbles recovered.

Michael George Vrabel was born on August 14, 1975 in Akron,  Ohio.  He added Walsh Jesuit High School in Stowe, Ohio.  He and his wife Jen have two sons, Tyler and Carter.  Vrabel was a pre-med major at Ohio State.

Friday Free Agency Update 2/27

Unlike past seasons, there hasn’t been a flurry of signings in the first hours of free agency.

Here is what has happened since 11 o’clock Thursday night.  Also, stay tuned later today I’ll tell you why Chiefs guard Brian Waters flunked his first test with the new regime at Arrowhead.

REDSKINS SIGN HAYNESWORTH AND HALL – After sitting out last year’s free agent market, Washington owner Dan Snyder leaped back in and signed DT Albert Haynesworth to a $100 million deal and CB DeAngelo Hall to a $56 million deal.  Here’s the shocking number: Haynesworth is going to get $41 million guaranteed, a level no NFL player has ever reached.

PATRIOTS ACTIVE AS WELL – In New England, they have signed RB Fred Taylor, released several weeks ago by Jacksonville and they also inked former Jets TE Chris Baker.

JETS ADDING LINEBACKER – New head coach Rex Ryan and the New York management have apparently worked out a deal with Ravens LB Bart Scott that will pay something in the neighborhood of $8 million per season.  The Jets have also re-signed former Chiefs FB Tony Richardson to a one-year deal.

HOUSTON KEEPS SAFETY — Eugene Wilson stayed with the Texans, signing a three-year deal, worth more than $11 million.

Friday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

Michael Vick knows when he’s getting out of Leavenworth, Tom Brady got married and Los Angeles is a step closer to a new football stadium.

But all anybody around the NFL wants to talk about on this Friday is the start of the new league year and free agency. Gisele and Tom? Forget it. They want to talk about Albert Haynesworth (below) and Dan Snyder.

So that’s where we’ll start this morning. I promise we will catch up with Vick, Brady and stadium news a bit later.

At 11:01 p.m. CST Thursday, it was time for the NFL to begin what amounts to its football fiscal year. All teams had to be under the salary cap of $127 million with their top salaries and bonuses for the 2009 season.

Early Thursday afternoon, every team in the league had a cushion under the cap. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chiefs had the biggest margins. The Bucs were $61 million under the cap, with the Chiefs at $57 million.

I know Chiefs fans see all that cap space available and believe that Scott Pioli is going to be one busy guy in the free agency world this weekend.

They are going to be disappointed. I think Pioli will be active in the second wave of free agency, but in this first week where the contracts get blown all out of proportion and teams badly overpay for players, I believe the Chiefs will sit on the sidelines and plan their strategy for when players and agents become more realistic. Read More..

Race To Free Agency

Thursday night at 11:01 p.m. CST, the 2009 NFL season will officially begin.

That’s when the salary cap kicks in again, now at $127 million limit per team after an NFL adjustment on Tuesday.

That’s also when contracts end and players become unrestricted and restricted free agents.

Right now, it’s busy all around the NFL as teams work their roster and salary cap situations before the deadline ahead of them.

As to the cap, a team’s top 51 contracts count against the $127 million figure between now and the day after the final cutdown before the regular season. Then, the team must have all 53 players fitting under that cap.

When it comes to working room under the cap, only the Tampa Bay Bucs have more room than the Chiefs, according to the NFL Network’s Adam Schefter. Here are the top five teams with cap money and the five teams with the lowest cap totals before the close of business on Thursday afternoon:

The Chiefs have six players who will be unrestricted free agents (UFA) tonight if the club does not reach agreement on a new deal: DE Jason Babin, LB Rocky Boiman, S Oliver Celestin, G Adrian Jones, S Jon McGraw and LB Pat Thomas. Hard to see Pioli/Haley interested in anybody but McGraw, who quietly had one of the best special teams seasons in the league last year. Read More..

From The Bottom Of The Birdcage 2/26

This is day No. 57 of the year. It’s 199 days away from opening Sunday in the NFL.

On February 26, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte became a free agent, after his escape from Elba. On Februrary 26, 1929, the Grand Teton National Park was created in Wyoming. Good move there. If you’ve never seen the Tetons, you’ve got to make it there before you die. Add it to the bucket list.

Born on February 26, 1829 was Levi Strauss, the clothing designer who moved to San Francisco and found the first company to manufacture blue jeans. Born on February 26, 1945 was Mitch Ryder, who went on to perform rock ‘n roll with several groups including Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. His biggest hit was Devil With The Blue Dress On.

On February 26, 1994, standup comedian Bill Hicks passed away from cancer. He was just 32 years old. Known for his irreverent routines on race, religion and drugs, he was once pulled from Late Night with David Letterman. He once joked that he quit using drugs “because once you’ve been taken aboard a UFO, it’s kind of hard to top that.”

And remember today the words of Mitch Ryder’s top song: “Fee fee, fi fi, fo fo, fum. Lookin’ mighty nice, here she comes. Wearin’ a wig, hat and shades to watch; got high heel sneakers and an alligator hat.”

They just don’t write lyrics like that anymore. Read More..

Thursday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

A pretty good football team could be made up of just the players who have been released by NFL teams in the past two weeks as a precursor to the start of free agency.

That was especially clear on Wednesday, as even more veteran players hit the waiver wire. Tampa Bay released five players, including 11-time Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Brooks (left), running back Warrick Dunn, wide receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard and linebacker Cato June.

The New York Jets sliced veteran wide receiver Laveranues Coles. The St. Louis Rams dropped quarterback Trent Green and wide receiver Drew Bennett. The Houston Texans sent packing defensive end Anthony Weaver, tackle Ephraim Salaam and safety Will Demps. The Carolina Panthers released guard Jeremy Bridges, wide receiver D.J. Hackett and running back Nick Goings.

That was just Wednesday.

On Tuesday it was names like Marvin Harrison, Donnie Edwards, Pat Surtain and Damon Huard. In the 10 days before it was Fred Taylor, Gibril Wilson, Chris McAlister, Deuce McAllister. Dre Bly, Marcus Washington, Drayton Florence, Ronald Curry, Jerry Porter and more.

And we can expect a few more familiar names on Thursday. The league’s personnel season begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, when all teams must be under the salary cap with their 51 most expensive players. It’s also the start of unrestricted and restricted free agency.

But free agency has already begun for the players who were released in the last few days. Many of those players will play in the league for the ‘09 season. Some may even have big seasons. Read More..

Losing A Lot Of Class

There’s no mistaking why the Chiefs released Donnie Edwards, Pat Surtain and Damon Huard on Tuesday.

They are all over 30 years of age, all were minimal participants last year for a 2-14 team because of injury and all were scheduled to make way too much money in ‘09 for what they figured to contribute to a rebuilding team.

All those factors qualify for dismissal under the rules of the NFL jungle. Any player over the age of 30 should not be surprised with the Reaper comes knocking on his door. It’s happening all over the league this week with names like Marvin Harrison, Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn, Lavernanues Coles, Joey Galloway and Trent Green shown the door.

The unfortunate thing for the Chiefs in losing Edwards/Surtain/Huard is that they lose an element that any team needs, but most especially the ‘09 Chiefs. That trait is class.

Surtain was pushed aside on the corner last year by the youthful trio of Brandon Flowers/Brandon Carr/Maurice Leggett. Never once did Surtain complain publicly. Talk with Flowers, Carr and Leggett and you’ll find out that never once did he turn down the chance to help them. Surtain wasn’t happy with the situation, but he remained a good teammate and a good soldier. Believe me when I say that’s rare, especially for cornerbacks who because of the nature of the position and generally more high-strung and willing to challenge authority.

In over 30 years of covering pro football I can tell you it’s hard to find many players classier than Huard. Ultimately, he may have been the quintessential backup quarterback, but his only real chance to play came with the Chiefs and it was quite a roller coaster due to injury and the desire to play Brodie Croyle and even Tyler Thigpen. Go back to the week before the Atlanta game when Herm Edwards decided to give Thigpen his first start. Huard was capable of playing that week and thought he should be playing. He kept his thoughts to himself. He knew how to be a good teammate.

And then there’s Donnie Edwards. Read More..