Hey, I’m guilty of it. We’re all guilty of it. We see a player get seriously injured and one of the first statements out of someone’s mouth is, “This may be career-threatening.�

The latest example of this is Peyton Manning. He recently had his second neck surgery in less than five months and at least one clown in the media wrote last week about how the Colts may wind up with Andrew Luck in next year’s draft. We live in a world where present news is old news and everyone has a blog nowadays so getting a jump on a story often takes precedence. But the media (and fans too, because they’re just as guilty even though the media provides a nice patsy for them) could learn a thing or two about Manning’s situation from Tom Brady.

As I watched Brady carve up the Dolphins for 517 yards and four touchdowns on Monday night, I had to laugh thinking about Matt Cassel’s 2008 season. He was so good that year that some wondered if the Pats should trade Brady and go with the younger Cassel at quarterback.

The idea wasn’t that far-fetched either. At the time, there was no timetable set for Brady’s return after he had season-ending knee surgery earlier in the year. Nobody knew when he would return in ’09, or if he would return at all. Cassel was also set to become a free agent, which further complicated the situation. If the Pats traded him or allowed him to leave via free agency, they risked not having an experienced quarterback for 2009 if Brady couldn’t recover.

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Check out all of our 2009 NFL team previews.

Offseason Additions: Matt Cassel (QB); Mike Vrabel (LB); Mike Brown (S); Mike Goff (G); Bobby Engram (WR); Zach Thomas (LB); Eric Ghiaciuc (C); Rudy Niswanger (C), Ashley Lelie (WR); Ikechuku Ndukwe (G); Andy Alleman (G).

Offseason Losses: Tony Gonzalez (TE); Adrian Jones (G); Pat Thomas (LB).

Player to Watch: Matt Cassel, QB.
Following an offseason trade that brought him over from New England, all eyes will be on Cassel this season. He gets to run new head coach Todd Haley’s pass-happy offense and he should team up with young receiver Dwayne Bowe to form a nice duo. Unfortunately, Cassel suffered a MCL sprain in the Chiefs’ third preseason game and he’s expected to miss KC’s season opener. Once he’s healthy, it’ll be interesting to see how he fares outside of the Patriots’ offense.

Team Strength: The Chiefs have a nice offensive trio in Cassel, Bowe and running back Larry Johnson, who reportedly is leaner and in the best shape of his life. While questions remain about whether or not Cassel can succeed outside of the Patriots’ system, Bowe and Johnson should help take the pressure off him in his first year as a Chief. Bowe has a terrific blend of size and speed and has emerged as a legitimate deep threat in the passing game. Johnson is coming off a rough ’08 campaign, but is rejuvenated and ready to rebound. Also, with the offseason additions of Mike Goff and Ikechuku Ndukwe – as well as the continued development of 2008 first round pick Branden Albert – the offensive line should be improved this year.

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According to a report by The Sporting News, Tom Brady is showing no restrictions as he continues to recover from reconstructive knee surgery.

Brady was able to return his normal rehabilitation schedule within “10 days to two weeks” after the follow-up procedures, the source said. That means the quarterback is roughly six months into the rehab process.

“He’s full go,” the source said Tuesday. A second source confirmed that assessment.
Brady hasn’t been shy about taking part in the club’s offseason program, giving teammates a close-up look at his progress. Most Patriots players are apprehensive about shedding too much light on player injuries and rehabs, but indications have been uniformly positive.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick last month said Brady had been “doing his offseason work without any limitations.” Owner Robert Kraft has said Brady will wear a brace on the left knee, which is standard for players coming off this type of injury. Both Rivers and Palmer wore knee braces coming off their ailments.

Even if Brady’s rehab is complete, it’s hard to say he has come full circle.

There’s a significant mental mountain a player has to climb in returning to game action. Authorities in sports medicine say it takes roughly two months of live action for a player to fully learn to use his new knee.

Brady has a long way to go, but this is definitely an encouraging sign for him and the Patriots. Obviously New England wouldn’t have traded Matt Cassel to Kansas City in the offseason if they didn’t feel Brady would fully recover from his knee surgery in time for the start of the season.

If he’s fully recovered, there’s no reason to believe the Patriots won’t again be the team to beat in the AFC, as they were before Brady’s injury in Week 1 of last year.

Even though we’re not even a week into the NFL free agency period, there is still plenty to talk about. Below are three free agency moves that made sense, three that didn’t and three that have yet to happen.

Three moves that made sense:

1. The Giants beefing up their defense with the signings of Canty, Boley and Bernard.
Two years ago, New York befuddled a previously unbeaten Patriots team in Super Bowl XLIII with a constant barrage of pressure from its defensive front four. With that in mind, GM Jerry Reese decided to add more talent to his front seven this offseason with the signings of Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard and Michael Boley. Canty and Bernard will beef up the interior of the Giants’ defensive line by adding both size and strength, as well as hopefully boost the production of Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora on the outside. Not too many people have heard of Boley, but before he got lost in the shuffle last year in Atlanta, he was on his way to a promising career. Surrounded by the right talent and given the opportunity to play to his strengths in the right system, Boley could become a Pro Bowler someday and eventually excel in New York. They still have to figure out what to do with Plaxico Burress, but thanks to the signings of these three defensive players (coupled with the sensible deal the team signed running back Brandon Jacobs to), the Giants have had one of the best offseasons of any team in the league.

The Matt Cassel-to-Chiefs trade just got a little juicer.

According to ESPN.com, the Broncos offered the 12th overall pick to the Patriots in exchange for Matt Cassel. Denver would have then traded Jay Cutler to the Bucs in exchange for a first and third round pick.

So then why did the Pats turn down that offer and trade Cassel (along with linebacker Mike Vrabel) to the Chiefs in exchange for Kansas City’s second round pick?

ESPN.com’s Tim Graham tries to answer that question:

But Belichick never embraced a trade with the Broncos, even though it was a head-scratcher on the value part (second-rounder versus a first-rounder). It suggests two or three speculative thoughts:

1. Belichick has always valued second-round picks (he now has three) and didn’t want to be stuck at No. 12 financially for whatever reason;
2. Belichick had an agreement with Pioli all along and wouldn’t break his word;
3. Belichick isn’t about to help another former assistant.

The Broncos sensed resistance all along, which is why they held the Bucs, Lions, Vikings, etc., at arm’s length and allows McDaniels his plausible deniability on trading Cutler (and logic supports his denial).
However, despite intense efforts to keep this run at Cassel under wraps, enough damage has been done that Cutler may now be on the block.

The Broncos/Cutler aspect of the trade was reported by the Boston Globe. A Patriots’ leak? Why? To mess with McDaniels?

Several citizens of Patriot Nation have written into my AFC East mailbag and left notes in the comments section that Belichick didn’t want a first-round pick for Cassel, that a second-rounder is more financially palatable.

Ridiculous, I say. The Patriots had the No. 10 pick last year and were highly successful with it, selecting defensive rookie of the year Jerod Mayo, a franchise player who could anchor their defense for the next decade.

The No. 12 pick is a commodity. The Patriots might’ve traded it for additional picks, dangling it on draft day to a team that has the hots for, say, quarterback Mark Sanchez, and doesn’t want him to get away.

Now this is what NFL free agency is all about! Failed trade talks, espionage and lies!

In one of the more bizarre stories this offseason, Jay Cutler was reportedly almost traded by the Broncos in a three-team deal involving Matt Cassel, the Chiefs, the Patriots, the Lions, the Bucs, a milkshake machine, a monkey, a tricycle, a kazoo and a whistle.

The deal obviously never went through because the Patriots agreed to send Cassel and linebacker Mike Vravel to the Chiefs for a second round pick, but apparently Cutler is now upset that his name was even brought up in a possible trade.

Tampa approached Denver to try to make a three-way trade that would have sent Cassel to the Broncos and quarterback Jay Cutler to the Buccaneers. The Broncos entertained the notion and pondered it but ultimately decided against it.

Also, the Lions approached the Broncos about a trade for Cutler, trying to dangle Cassel as bait. Once again, Denver debated the deal and opted against it apparently. What made it a moot point was that while all Tampa, Detroit and Denver engaged in trade talks with New Engalnd, the Patriots went ahead and dealt Cassel to the Chiefs.

This is what Cutler said in response to the trade talks:

Scott Pioli is quickly turning the Kansas City Chiefs into the Patriots of the AFC West after he was able to acquire quarterback Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel from New England in exchange for a second round pick (No. 34 overall).

NFL.com’s Adam Schefter, who first reported the story, claims that the two teams have agreed on the compensation, but details are not yet available. Rotoworld.com, however, confirms that the compensation for Cassel and Vrabel is a second round pick, which seems incredibly light for a starting quarterback and linebacker.

Did Bill Belichick do his old buddy Pioli a favor by only letting Cassel go for only a second rounder? Did Pioli have incriminating photos of New England front office members and was set to release them unless they agreed to trade Cassel for as little as possible? How they hell could the Pats only get a second rounder for Cassel and Vrabel?

In his latest addition of “Monday Morning Quarterback�, Peter King of SI.com writes that he would be surprised if Matt Cassel was a Patriot in 2009.

I’m surprised that a quarterback who played as well as Cassel did for the last 10 weeks of the season is being viewed by most people in the league as too risky to chart a long-term course with. It’s not often in free agency or in trade that a young quarterback with promise is available. And while I understand it’s a millstone around Cassel that he’d require probably two fairly high picks plus an average of $14 million-ish a year in a contract, I still think I’d rather have Cassel as my quarterback of the future than, say, Matthew Stafford. And the money’s not that much different.

The logical places for New England to trade Cassel are Kansas City (because Scott Pioli is the man who drafted him in 2005 in New England), Detroit (because the Lions have $36 million in cap room and three of the top 33 picks to play with), Tampa Bay (because the Bucs have $55 million in cap room and no QB of the future), Minnesota (because Brad Childress needs a long-term quarterback) and the 49ers (because their quarterback is named Shaun Hill). I don’t buy San Francisco or Minnesota because of the draft picks they’d have to give up, plus neither are cash-rich. The Lions don’t seem inclined to risk taking a quarterback they’re unsure of; ditto the Bucs.

That leaves Cassel’s old pal Pioli. I think Cassel and Todd Haley would make beautiful music together. The Hunt family wouldn’t grouse at the money. But I say no — not because Pioli doesn’t love the kid. I say no because of Pioli’s history. The Patriots took Tom Brady with the 199th pick in 2000. They took Cassel with the 230th pick in 2005. Let’s say the Patriots asked Kansas City for its second-round pick in 2009 and 2010. Pioli values picks in the thirties the way most team value picks in the teens. I’d be stunned if he did it. I think he’d trust Haley to pick a Josh Freeman in this draft in the third round, let’s say, and work with Freeman, Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen over the next couple of years and say, “Let the best man win.”

King kind of contradicts himself by saying he’d be surprised if Cassel remains a Patriot, then goes on in detail about how all of the leading candidates to acquire him won’t acquire him. But that’s not to say I disagree with anything he wrote.