More Radio Foolishness

Look, as well as Cassel is playing, he's just the latest in a long line of backup quarterbacks who were thrust into a starting role and performed well beyond the expectations of those of us who don't watch practice, aren't present at meetings, etc. Last year we had Derek Anderson. Anyone remember Scott Mitchell? Or Tommy Maddox? Or Rob Johnson? Usually, when the backup quarterback becomes a good starter it's by design and coincidence. Tony Romo was being groomed to take over; Brady obviously demonstrated enough to the coaches that they felt comfortable sticking with him over Drew Bledsoe when decision time came. Yes you have the occasional Kurt Warner story, but that is the exception not the rule. And let's not forget that the rags to riches backup quarterback stories usually take place because the starter is on shaky ground to start with. If Bledsoe was as good in 2001 as Brady is now, Brady would have probably been a career backup.

Overperforming backups never supplant true franchise quarterbacks who are on solid ground. Look back at Rob Johnson; he had one awesome game filling in for Mark Brunell, but when the time came for the Jaguars to make a decision on him, they sent him packing. The Dolphins did the same with Mitchell after he did a good job taking over for an injured Dan Marino that one year. And the teams that got both of them, thinking they'd gotten a hold of the next big thing at quarterback, soon found out why those guys were backups and not starters with their old teams. Don't think for one minute that the Pats will make the mistake of going with Cassel next year. First of all, there is the issue of trading Brady. The salary cap rules alone pretty much wipe out any chance of that happening (the Pats would be on the hook for a considerable part of the signing bonus in Brady's contract), along with the slim chance that they'd get anywhere near equal compensation for him. No one would give up however many draft picks they'd want for him; the fact that he was on the block wold suggest that something was wrong with him, which would drive own the price. Just not going to happen.

And let's look back at Cassel for a minute. Does anyone really think he's that good? They guy is throwing to Randy Moss and Wes Welker, who would make a lot of guys look good. Brady won three Super Bowls throwing to the likes of Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Patten, and David Givens. Anyone here think Cassel could do that next year, after people have film on him? Let him go to a team with suspect receivers like Minnesota, Jacksonville, or Oakland. I doubt he'll be duplicating his success there. Look, I have no beef with Cassel or anyone who takes an opportunity and gets paid for it. But I do have major beef with idiots who speculate about things that have zero chance of happening, like the patriots trading Brady and keeping Cassel. Find something else to talk about guys, because this is just dumb.