Cassel had a good chance to win the starting job in Minnesota if he stayed with over $3 million guaranteed money. If the Texans pay him and take the cap hit for Schaub, more than likely he's going to start.
We dodged a bullet there... That probably takes Minnesota out the quarterback sweepstakes in the 1st round as well. Maybe also puts a quarterback back in discussion for the Texans. And O'Brien may have not wanted Cassel in the first place because he's never came out and said he did.
We're going to draft a QB(preferably in the second round vs reaching on an unworthy QB in the first) but they'll have a vet as the starter next year so they can groom the rookie.
do we now go all in for Mallet? my guess is our 3rd rounder for Mallet. effectively a 2nd rounder, since it's the first pick of the 3rd
I'd be ok with that, and I think the Patriots would be too. Get something of value for him before he leaves, and open the door to draft Brady's true successor.
Minnesota was desperate enough for a QB to pay Josh Freeman $3 mil last season despite Cassel being on the roster. They are still very much in the market for a QB. This just keeps them from being compelled to reach. The year they reached on Ponder, they backed themselves into a corner. They went into the draft with essentially no QB on the roster, and they were sure they'd get one of the three QB'S with a 1st round grade at 12. The Titans surprised everybody by going QB at 8, and after JAX took Gabbert, they were backed into a corner. At that point, all your first round graded QB's are gone, but you begin to worry that all the QB'S graded as 2nd round will be gone by your second round pick. At that late date all the decent free agents had already been signed. Drafting Ponder there was a necessary defensive move. He wasn't very good, but there were much worse outcomes that they had to be thinking about. Cassel keeps their draft options open. It is by no means a commitment to him as "the man".
