Career backup (seriously, collegiate and professionally) Matt Cassel has just signed a six year, $63 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. Somewhere, Matt Leinhart just dropped his funnel in disbelief.
The franchise tag on the ex-Pat backup guarantees him $28 million, and he is scheduled to make upwards of $10 million each year. All in all, not bad for a guy who has started less than 20 games in his career.
While it might piss some people off (cough...Leinhart...cough) to see a guy like Cassel haul in some major dough after one season in which he didn't even lead his team to the playoffs, this type of story is so common in sports. As a Yankee fan, trust me, I know.
As it turns out, the Matt Cassel technique is becoming an increasingly viable option for professional athletes everywhere. It doesn't take an established career to haul in the big money. Even in horrible economic times, teams throw around insane amounts of cake, fearing that they're gonna miss out on the next big free agent.
Cassel is a sure fire example of it in the NFL, the Yankees pull one every year (AJ Burnett comes immediately to mind), and with the Magic matching the Mavs offer of 5 years, $34 million to keep backup center Marcin Gortat, we know something is seriously wrong, especially when we find out that "the Polish Hammer" was actually disappointed with the deal...
Bottom line, it takes one well-timed, good year to get paid if you're a pro athlete these days. Sometimes, it doesn't even take that. The contract year is the equivalent of serious beer goggles for any GM. Putting up a flukish walk year is the equivalent of turning to your buddy and saying "Hey man, she's actually not that bad" after your fifteenth beer (fifth beer for Loop). While I'm not saying Cassel will bust (he's gotta be better than Brodie Croyle), I would think GMs everywhere would be starting to learn from all the mistakes they've made.
As for Cashman, let him spend all he wants.
No comments:
Post a Comment