Draft King NFL Mock Draft exclusive insight decades of experience insider pro football college prospects

Lou Pickney's 2024 NFL Mock Draft


National Football League
Draft King Analysis

February 8, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com

Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.


Matt Cassel proved to be a very sensible person, as he has signed a one-year contract for a guaranteed $14.65 million for 2009 with the New England Patriots. That happened as the result of the Patriots placing its non-exclusive franchise tag on Cassel earlier this week, a move which gave Cassel a one-year contract of the value of the top five quarterback salaries from 2008. There is a reason that quarterbacks seldom receive the franchise tag -- it is a pricey proposition.

Matt Cassel
Matt Cassel is guaranteed $14.65 million for 2009. (Icon SMI)
There is widespread speculation that the Patriots may try to trade Cassel to either the Minnesota Vikings or the Chicago Bears, but the advantage rests entirely with Cassel. Any team acquiring him would want him to agree to a long-term deal as part of a trade, but with $14.65 million guaranteed for 2009, Cassel will be working from a position of considerable advantage.

As I type this I have the NFL Pro Bowl on in the background. I've never been a big fan of the game; with a few exceptions (such as the late Sean Taylor leveling Bills punter Brian Moorman with a vicious block in February 2007) it's a much-softer version of the game with player safety kept in mind. I can understand that (who wants his or her favorite player to get hurt in the Pro Bowl?) but as a result the game itself isn't exactly a thrilling event, at least not in my opinion.

Two funny things worth noting: Andy Reid seems to have ended up badly sunburned, perhaps looking the worst off of any NFL head coach on the sideline since Tom Coughlin looking horribly wind-burned and frozen in Green Bay in the 2007 NFC Championship Game. Also, the uniforms for the Pro Bowl were horribly ugly. Just awful. The lines running through the numbers made them borderline unreadable.


From: Jared Gruber
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 10:50 PM
Subject: The Colts pick in your draft

I don't think they will reach for Marks. If Heyward-Bey is there, I think he would be more likely to replace Harrison

Lou: You may be right, though the Colts already have a pair of former first-round wide receiver picks with Reggie Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez. Marvin Harrison is due some steep base salaries with the three years remaining on his contract: $9 million for 2009, $10 million for 2010, and $11.4 million for 2011. Harrison turns 37 in August, and unless he agrees to renegotiate for substantially less money, he could easily be playing for another team in 2009.

Harrison had eight consecutive 1,000+ yard receiving seasons from 1999-2006, and the combination of Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison is #1 all-time in the NFL for most career completions and most career passing touchdowns between a quarterback and a wide receiver. If Harrison and Indianapolis part ways this off-season, it will be the end of a historic era.

Draft King is owned and operated by Lou Pickney. © 2003-2024, all rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, the views expressed here are those of Lou Pickney alone and do not necessarily reflect those of any media company.