It may sound ludicrous to even fathom the Patriots trading away a legend like Tom Brady.  However, it might not be as crazy as it sounds.   This season, Brady was injured in the first game of the year with a torn ACL.  The aforementioned injury could mean that he will have to sit out some games to begin the 2009 campaign.

Matt Cassel has done more than an adequate job filling in for Brady.  In fact, Cassel figures to be the most highly coveted free agent quarterback in 2009.  The only way New England can retain Cassel is if they slap the franchise tag on him.  If the Patriots elect to franchise him, it will cost them somewhere between $10 and $12 million.  That seems a bit steep for a backup quarterback.

New England already showed that they were willing to part with a veteran in favor of an unproven young quarterback when they decided to part with Drew Bledsoe and anoint Brady as their future signal caller.  Therefore, if it is determined that Brady will have to miss significant amount of time in 2009, or if the Patriots don’t think he will ever be as good as he was prior to his injury, then don’t be surprised if they elect to shop Brady for multiple draft picks.

Another thing to consider is that Brady will turn 32 years old in August, and Cassel is only 26 years young.  There isn’t any reason to believe that Brady can’t play for another handful of seasons, but there is now an increased risk that he will become more susceptible to getting injured. 

No matter what New England decides to do, they clearly have a lot to think about this off-season. Will they trade Brady to get some much needed young talent in return?   Will they keep Brady and let Cassel go elsewhere via free agency?  Will they franchise Cassel and keep him as their backup to Brady?

Obviously, it is impossible to know the answers to these questions right now, and we all know that coach Bill Belichick won’t tell us what he plans to do until a month after they have already made their moves.  If I had to guess, I would say they will likely keep Brady and let Cassel leave town.  New England will then either trade for McNabb and convince him to backup Brady, or they will just take a quarterback late in the draft and once again prove that anyone can succeed in their system.

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