Cassel to the Chiefs

By Dalton Del Don

Adam Schefter is reporting the Chiefs have acquired Cassel from the Patriots in a trade, although no details were immediately available.

I recently talked about Cassel’s strengths and weaknesses here, and it looks like Kansas City is pretty much an ideal landing spot for him. The team switched to the spread offense last season, which should work to his skill set (lots of shotgun). Moreover, new GM Scott Pioli obviously knows exactly what he’s getting, and new coach Todd Haley’s expertise is the passing game.

Cassel’s fantasy value has nowhere to go but down leaving the ideal situation in New England, but as a Chief, he remains plenty interesting from a fantasy perspective. The team’s defense is still in rebuild mode, and the running game is in flux; meaning Kansas City should be pass-heavy. Also, Dwayne Bowe is a budding star, Tony Gonzalez continues to be effective, and if healthy, Mark Bradley is explosive.

Tentatively, I’d rank Cassel somewhere around 10th on my QB board next year, behind Matt Ryan but ahead of Donovan McNabb, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning. Of course, there’s plenty of uncertainty when switching systems, and it’s entirely possible Cassel was solely a product of the Patriots, but his new situation appears to be a fit.