No Sign Of A Cassel Deal, Yet

On draft weekend, the guys at NFP dropped a bombshell that, given the other stuff that was happening, got less notice than it otherwise would have. Per the on-air report from Michael Lombardi and online blurb from Joe Fortenbaugh, the Chiefs and quarterback Matt Cassel had agreed to terms on a six-year deal, with $36 million in guaranteed money. Peter King of SI.com quickly disputed the information. Nearly two weeks later, there’s no sign of a deal. So what gives? I asked Fortenbaugh about it via e-mail, and he seemed to suggest that a deal is still coming. "[W]hen the announcement is made,” he wrote, “the matching numbers should clear things up.” I asked him whether this means that he believes the Chiefs and Cassel have a deal done, and that the two sides are merely holding it for now. Here’s what Joe said: "[I’m] simply saying that when the deal is announced, any questions that are out there will be answered.” The problem with that approach is that, for the same reasons that our “report” regarding the demise of a certain Hall of Famer eventually will be accurate, there’s a good chance that, at some point, Cassel and the Chiefs will work out a long-term deal, which will replace his one-year, $14.65 million contract and significantly reduce his cap number. The real question is whether, as of right now, such an agreement has been reached. Based on our own homework regarding the issue, we can find no proof of any agreement, formal or otherwise. Multiple sources have corroborated King’s initial report that there was and is no deal. One source close to the situation had this to say: "[T]here have been no Cassel discussions at all -- the Chiefs were focused on the draft. . . . I have no idea where that came from.” So, in the end, Cassel and the Chiefs still might do a deal. As far as we can tell, it hasn’t happened yet.