Matt Cassel and Josh McDaniels: Where to Next?

Back in 2004 when the Patriots drafted Matt Cassel, I wondered what Bill Belichick was thinking. A backup quarterback who never started a game in college? Surely Belichick had finally lost it. Success had gone to his head. His critics were right. This guy is the epitome of arrogance. He was so filled with himself that he thought he could take any sow’s ear and turn it into a silk purse. In addition, Belichick was just throwing away Mr. Kraft’s money. Why waste a draft choice on Cassel and have to pay him up front? Let him come into camp undrafted. Belichick reasoned that Cassel’s former coordinator at USC, Norm Chow, who had signed on in Tennessee to take over Jeff Fisher’s offense, might draft him. Then again, Carson Palmer could convince the Bengal staff to take his former backup. Good, let them have him. Over the next few years, Patriots fans seemed to agree with me. After Cassel’s poor showing during his stints in exhibition games, fans wanted him cut.  ... (link)