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Kansas City Chiefs acquire Matt Cassel, Mike Vrabel in trade with Patriots
Published by T.C. COLLETTE on February 28, 2009
Scott Pioli left the New England Patriots to become Kansas City’s general manager.
Quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel are now coming with him.
The Chiefs acquired Cassel — whom the Patriots franchised earlier this month — and Vrabel from New England on Saturday in a trade.
The Chiefs, coming off a 2-14 season, sent the 34th pick in April’s draft to New England.
“I have a long history with both players,” Pioli said in a statement. “Mike and Matt are men that I respect both personally and professionally. I look forward to having them as new members of the Chiefs family.”
Financial compensation on a new contract with Cassel has not been reached yet, a source told FOXSports.com.
The move is the latest step in a huge rebuilding effort in Kansas City. Nine days after Pioli was named general manager, he fired incumbent coach Herm Edwards. Two weeks later, former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley was given the head coaching job.
Haley now has a new leader for an offense that ranked 20th in the NFL a season ago with just 195.6 pass yards per game while struggling to find a solid option at quarterback. Damon Huard, Tyler Thigpen and Brodie Croyle all took turns at the position for the Chiefs but could not solidify themselves.
Cassel started the 2008 season as the Patriots backup, but stepped in to the starting role when Tom Brady went down with a season-injury in Week 1 — ironically, against the Chiefs. He finished the season with 3,693 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Vrabel was part of three Super Bowl-winning teams in his eight years with New England, primarily as an outside linebacker. He was in Kansas City on Friday getting a physical.
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