5 comments Ross Tucker Disagrees with Co-Worker David Steele's NFL Coach Rankings, Also Disagrees with Himself About Why

Ross Tucker is showing us all how corporate synergy can work. Both he and David Steele work for The Sporting News and Steele put up a slideshow ranking the best NFL head coaches recently. Taking a page from ESPN, Tucker spits out a short column in response to David Steele's slideshow. Nothing like creating the news and then reacting to the news your company has created. I did have a few issues with David Steele's slideshow of the best NFL head coaches. He puts Andy Reid at #6, ranks John Harbaugh over Jim Harbaugh but then puts Pete Carroll at #2 (given the track record of Jim in consistently getting the 49ers to NFC Championship Game it seems he should be higher than his brother, even with no Super Bowl victory), and puts Jeff Fisher at #13. I'm sure most of you can guess my feelings about Jeff Fisher and Steele wrote this:

It’s hard to find anyone to knock Fisher’s coaching ability, some of the great teams he put together in Tennessee, the identity they forged, or even the early results of the current reclamation project in St. Louis. It’s harder to explain how he only made the playoffs six times, and had six winning seasons, in 17 years with the Oilers/Titans. The record needs to catch up with the reputation at some point.

IT'S BEEN 17 YEARS!

"At some point" Fisher's record needs to catch up with his reputation? When will this happen? After Fisher has coached in the NFL for 25 years? Naturally, after writing this David Steele ranks Fisher above Rex Ryan, Lovie Smith, and Chip Kelly despite the fact Fisher's teams have made the playoffs twice in the last nine years and haven't won a playoff game since 2003. So while Steele talks about Fisher's record catching up with his reputation, he doesn't back his words up with actions.

Jim Caldwell is #16 on the list, which shouldn't surprise me since that is David Steele's boy. I think if you gave NFL teams a choice between Rex Ryan and Marvin Lewis then I think the vast majority would choose them over Jim Caldwell. Apparently Dennis Allen is the worst coach in the NFL, though he also so happens to coach in quite possibly in one of the worst organizations in the NFL.

Ross Tucker's issue wasn't with the majority of Steele's rankings, but that Steele had Bill Belichick ranked above Tom Coughlin. Belichick was #1 on the list, while Coughlin was #3. See, Ross Tucker believes that Tom Coughlin has done more with less (while only discussing offense and not acknowledging defense), as well as has won games with more than one quarterback. Unfortunately, Tucker contradicts himself on this issue when saying Tom Coughlin's track record is more impressive than Bill Belichick and why.

Not so fast, David Steele.

This is a written version of a "First Take" debate. Ross Tucker is responding directly to something David Steele has written. Synergy is great.

My Sporting News colleague recently ranked all 32 NFL head coaches and started with the following line:

"One fairly reliable rule of thumb: Start with Bill Belichick and work your way down."

And then this:

"It's going to be a long time before any coach is able to dislodge him from the top."

Crazy. Insane. Just madness for David Steele to put one of the longest tenured NFL coaches (the longest tenured I believe) with the best track record #1 in his NFL head coaching rankings. How is that supposed to get pageviews and cause a controversy? It's bad enough Steele had to resort to a slideshow to get pageviews, but now he is going with conventional thinking and making the best coach in the NFL #1 in his coaches rankings? Unconceivable.

Belichick is an extraordinary football coach. The argument for him being the best head coach in the NFL is an easy one and it starts and probably ends with the incredible sustained success that his New England Patriots have enjoyed since 2001.

Yeah, but this isn't a contrarian position that Ross Tucker could take when he can't think of anything else to write about. So he will say that Tom Coughlin is the best head coach in the NFL for the sake of debate and to remind his readers that Belichick should be knocked down in the rankings because he's had Tom Brady as his quarterback.

The numbers are staggering. Eleven Division Titles.Eight Conference Championship Game appearances. Five Super Bowls. Three World Championships.

Yeah, but what have you done for me lately? Only two Super Bowls and four Conference Championship Game appearances.

Almost as impressive to me as all of those accomplishments was the 11-5 season the Patriots had in 2008 with first-time starter Matt Cassel under center after Tom Brady was lost for the season with a torn ACL in the opener.

Remember that Belichick had success with another quarterback under center. It will be important here in a few lines. Belichick went 11-5 with a quarterback not named "Tom Brady" starting for the majority of the season. Therefore, he had success with multiple quarterbacks.

Despite all of that, I'm still not 100 percent certain that Belichick is the best coach in the NFL.  It’s certainly not a slam dunk.

And because it's not a "slam dunk" this means that Belichick definitely isn't the best coach in the NFL? I think I understand it now. Ross Tucker wants to be a contrarian.

Allow me to make an argument for the one coach whose resume I believe can go toe to toe with Belichick: Tom Coughlin.

I like Tom Coughlin a lot. His numbers of five division titles, four conference championship game appearances, two Super Bowls, and two world championships do not go toe to toe with eleven division titles, eight conference championship game appearances, five Super Bowls, and three world championships. Yes, Coughlin has beaten Belichick twice for Super Bowl victories, but toe to toe Belichick's numbers are better.

I give special credit when evaluating coaches to those who have shown the ability to have success with multiple franchises and/or multiple quarterbacks. 

Well, then Belichick should be considered as good as Coughlin because when given a chance to have a quarterback who isn't Tom Brady the Patriots went 11-5. Belichick didn't have success with the Browns, but he went 36-44 as the head coach of the Browns and won 11 games in 1994, as well as had two 7-win seasons. The Browns have had zero seasons of 11 wins and three seasons where they won 7 games since Belichick left. So in terms of relative success with a team, Belichick had relative success in Cleveland.

That's why I've always respected Joe Gibbs' accomplishments so much.

Gibbs only had success with the Redskins, not another NFL team. He did have success with multiple quarterbacks, that's for sure. I'm not sure why Gibbs' accomplishments mean more than Belichick's (or maybe they don't?) in the mind of Ross Tucker simply because Belichick has consistently had a great quarterback. Plus, while Coughlin has had success with two quarterbacks, Belichick has had success with two quarterbacks as well. He had Matt Cassel lead the Patriots to a 11-5 season when Tom Brady got injured.

Coughlin started an expansion franchise from scratch with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1996 and took them to the postseason four times in his first five years, including two berths in AFC Championship games. That's amazing and unprecedented for a fledgling franchise.

Coughlin is a great coach. There is no doubt about that. Still, his accomplishments can't go toe to toe with Bill Belichick's in terms of conference titles, division titles and Super Bowl titles. If Ross Tucker wants to talk relativity, then that's fine, but just be sure Belichick's relative success with Cleveland over a five year period the Browns have not had since he left should be considered in this discussion as well.

Belichick, on the other hand, only made the playoffs one time during his five-year stint as head coach of the Cleveland Browns in the 90s. That obviously pales in comparison to what Coughlin accomplished in Jacksonville.

It does, that's true. I think it's important to note that Belichick had success in Cleveland during his five years they haven't matched since and Belichick's success in New England eclipses Coughlin's success both in Jacksonville and with the New York Giants. No matter how Ross Tucker wants to slice it, Belichick's numbers overall are better. Of course Tucker wants to throw in cherry-picked reasons Coughlin is better, like his success with two franchises and his success with two quarterbacks, but this doesn't mean he's a better coach than Bill Belichick.

Now let's look more recently. Over the last nine years since Eli Manning's first full season as the starting quarterback in 2005, Coughlin has won two Super Bowl championships. Belichick has none

Funny how that cut-off time is 2005 when Coughlin coached the Giants in 2004. Why could that be? Perhaps because the Patriots won the Super Bowl that year? Don't you like how Ross Tucker is all, "It's what a coach does with two quarterbacks that makes him great," yet only wants to compare Coughlin as the Giants coach with Eli Manning as the starting quarterback. He doesn't want to talk about that 6-10 year with Kurt Warner because it's not convenient. And yes, that same Kurt Warner who had success in the NFL and is a possible Hall of Famer. A coach should be judged on what he does with multiple quarterbacks unless that's not a convenient metric for Ross Tucker to use.

Even since 2005, Coughlin has three division titles, two conference championships, and two Super Bowl wins. Belichick has had eight division titles, five conference championships, and zero Super Bowl wins. So Coughlin has reached greater heights, but Belichick has still made more conference championship appearances and won more division titles since 2005.

Maybe even more importantly, Coughlin has beaten Belichick head to head in both of those Super Bowls. That's a tremendous feather in his cap, especially when you consider the 2007 Patriots were clearly the more talented team in that game.

Yes, that was an impressive win. The Giants did have a pretty good defense during the playoff run though and it's important to note that Belichick has had consistent, sustained success with the Patriots while Coughlin hasn't quite met that standard of consistent, sustained success since 2005.

Have the Giants been as consistent as the Patriots in the non-championship years? Absolutely not, but then again, Manning isn't as consistent as Brady. Not even close.

Oh okay, now I get it. Belichick isn't a better coach because he has the better quarterback. It's sort of like how Tom Brady isn't the better quarterback as compared to Peyton Manning because Brady has Belichick as his head coach. Neither Brady or Belichick will get credit for their success at times due to their affiliation with each other.

I believe Brady is the best quarterback in NFL history. Even if you disagree, there has to be an acknowledgment that you can make a very compelling argument in Brady's favor in that regard.

So Coughlin would have done much better if he had a chance to coach a potential Hall of Fame quarterback. If only there were a quarterback he could have coached early in his career as the Giants head coach...

Manning? I'm not sure he's a top 10 QB in the NFL right now. He certainly wasn't last year.

I think Tucker isn't exactly looking at the defensive side of the ball and weighting Manning's performance last year too much. I would argue the Giants have had better defenses over the past few years than the Patriots have had. I'm sure that's Belichick's fault though and when comparing Manning to Brady defense shouldn't be taken into account at all. The only pertinent discussion as to whether Coughlin or Belichick is the better coach is a discussion that revolves around which coach has the better quarterback. Nothing else matters when comparing the two coaches.

So Coughlin did far better than Belichick with a different team and different group of men in their respective first opportunities as head coaches and has won two more Super Bowls over the last seven years,

But Belichick has done better when comparing both coaches side-by-side over the lifetime of their coaching careers. While Coughlin has been better in terms of winning the Super Bowl over the last few years, Belichick has still consistently accomplished more as a head coach during that time than Coughlin has. So the question becomes whether Tucker wants a coach who is consistently great, but can't win the Super Bowl, or a coach who won the Super Bowl a couple of times but has missed the playoffs four of the last five seasons.

beating Belichick head to head both times when everything was at stake with a lesser quarterback.

Well, Belichick did beat Coughlin to secure a perfect regular season record in 2007, but that was a regular season game so it clearly doesn't count in this discussion.

Are we still so sure that Belichick is the best coach in the NFL?

In terms of the coach that has accomplished the most over a long span of time, I would consider Belichick to be the best coach. That's just me, but Ross Tucker is incorrect by acknowledging and then forgetting Belichick has won games without Brady as his quarterback. He also focuses really hard on the two Super Bowl victories Coughlin has while ignoring that Belichick has accomplished more on a consistent basis during the time span of Coughlin's two Super Bowl victories.

No matter the reason, Ross Tucker's best coach in the NFL hasn't even made the playoffs four of the last five seasons. Is he sure that Coughlin is the best coach in the NFL? 

3 comments Watch Out! Progress and New Ideas are Coming!

One of the biggest issues, at least in my opinion, that colors the "Sabermetrics v. Old-School Statistics" argument is the intense dislike those old-school writers have for the people who are using Sabermetrics to evaluate baseball players. The messenger affects the message for some of these old-school writers so much so they don't even bother to understand the message. They can't accept a person with a blog, someone who didn't go to "J-school" or doesn't have access to player can have an educated opinion on statistics or even sports for that matter. It seems Bill Madden is one of these people. Then there are guys who really aren't old-school writers, but are writers in the vein of Jay Mariotti who make a living off their audience absolutely hating what they write. These are writers who are perfectly willing to pick a fight, but don't want anyone else to have a bully pulpit to fight back. Once they get hit back, they start talking about how there is a lack of civility, and of course it is the basement dwelling bloggers' fault, not the fault of a negativity-spewing sportswriter. These bloggers fire off anger anonymously and some sportswriters don't like this. As if a picture beside something you have written makes you any less anonymous to the general public. I can't email many of these sportswriters and expect them to email me back. Often I can't fire off a Tweet in response to a column written by a sportswriter and expect a response from that writer either, so even though there is a picture beside the column these sportswriters are essentially anonymous as well. Ironically, much of what made these sportswriters less anonymous are the very modes of communication many sportswriters dislike (Twitter being the prime example). This new technology gives writers a chance (should they take it) to interact with their readers. There are still sportswriters who hate this type of medium and don't like feedback from the imbeciles who read their columns. Dan Shaughnessy is one of those people.

I'll start off first with Bill Madden who comes out firing at Sabermetricians in his MLB awards column. 

Here are our picks:

I'm confused through this entire column why Madden uses the plural form "we" and "our" in making the picks, but I will just assume he has a squirrel in his pocket helping to make these picks.

AL MVP MIGUEL CABRERA

Which I am fine with. I somewhat disagree, but it is a person's point of view and Cabrera had a really great year. Bill gets a little hostile about it though.

With apologies to the Sabermetric WAR freaks, we believe winning the Triple Crown is a big deal

There we go. "Sabermetric WAR freaks" are those who like Mike Trout for MVP. This is the typical lack of respect for the other point of view that drives me crazy and really tells me Bill Madden is afraid of any type of progress or change. This fear reflects poorly on him, rather than the "freaks" he so blatantly seems to dislike. This is such a minor and immature attempt at an insult, I can't imagine a reason why it was necessary.

Yes, the Triple Crown is a big deal, but it doesn't mean a player automatically gets moved to the head of the class as the MVP. The Triple Crown proves that Miguel Cabrera was an exceptional hitter this year, but there are other phases to the game of baseball and the fact he won the Triple Crown doesn't automatically make him the most valuable player in the American League. It only means he won the Triple Crown.

and that Miguel Cabrera being the first player to do it in 45 years, leading the league in batting (.330), homers (44) and RBI (139) as well as slugging (.606) with the highest OPS (.999) in the majors, was something to celebrate.

Fine, let's throw Cabrera a party (a non-alcoholic beverage party, just to be safe) in honor of him winning the Triple Crown. I fail to understand how the fact it had been 45 years since a player hit for the Triple Crown is important in this discussion to the point it would help make Cabrera more valuable. So if a player hit for the Triple Crown last in 2005 would this mean Cabrera is less valuable in 2012? If not, then how does the fact it had been 45 years since the last player hit for the Triple Crown help his MVP candidacy? Maybe I am being too narrow in my thinking, but for an award for the most "valuable" player, I don't see how the time between Triple Crowns affects Cabrera's value as a baseball player. Yes, it does speak to what an accomplishment the Triple Crown is, but it may not make Cabrera the AL MVP.

We agree Mike Trout also had a season for the ages, but if you’re going to give him points for (WAR) hypotheticals to reward his defense, we would submit Cabrera volunteering to move to third base so the Tigers could sign Prince Fielder was worth a whole lot more wins.

Oh, my head hurts. WAR isn't really a hypothetical, it is a statistic based on other statistics a player has posted. What hurts my head more is that Cabrera is now individually more valuable because the Tigers signed another valuable player which caused Cabrera to move positions. Other than the fact Bill Madden is using another player's statistics to determine Cabrera's individual value and WAR measures a player's individual contribution to a team's win total, not that player's individual value based on other player's individual value, how does this make sense? So if the Angels signed Michael Bourn in the offseason and Mike Trout moves to left field he is now a more valuable player because he moved positions to allow the Angels to sign a specific player?

The fact Bill Madden even asks this question shows an absolute fundamental misunderstanding of the WAR statistic and explains why Madden shouldn't criticize a statistic he simply doesn't understand. The idea Cabrera is more individually valuable because the players around him are great players also is the line of thinking I absolutely abhor when discussing any MVP race. Cabrera moving to third base was a selfless move, but this doesn't make him a more valuable player any more than Martin Prado's versatility would put him in the NL MVP race. Prado played six positions this year and put up a line of .301/.359/.438. Does this give more claim to Prado being the NL MVP because Ryan Braun and Buster Posey can't play six positions? 

Both had MVP-worthy seasons, but Cabrera sealed his by out-hitting Trout .344, 19 HR, 54 RBI to .287/12/28 since Aug. 1.

Well then Cabrera can be August/September AL MVP. Last time I checked, which was just now, the MVP is a year-long award and not given to a player based on cherry-picked dates specified by Bill Madden.

NL MVP BUSTER POSEY

This one isn’t nearly so close. Giants catcher Buster Posey epitomized everything an MVP is supposed to be, stepping up when Melky Cabrera, the team’s first half-MVP, was suspended,

His primary competition comes from defending MVP Ryan Braun, of the Brewers who had a similar season (.319, 112 RBI, league-leading 41 HR and .987 OPS) to last year’s, which was later tainted by that positive testosterone test. Bottom line, however: Braun’s Brewers aren’t in the playoffs this year.

Oh man. So Braun isn't as valuable to the Brewers as Posey is to the Giants because the players around Braun aren't as good? Whether a player's team makes the playoffs should have little to do with the MVP race. Bill Madden admits the Giants had the first half MVP in Melky Cabrera, so doesn't that have something to do with the Giants getting in the playoffs? I'm sure it contributed in some way. I would vote for Posey, but not because his team is in the playoffs. Acknowledging Posey wasn't even the best player on his own team during the first half only goes to hurt Posey's candidacy in my mind. Of course I am a freak, unlike Bill Madden who is a normal human being who willfully ignores new and relevant information that comes available in his field of work. That's a normal thing to do, right?

AL CY YOUNG DAVID PRICE

You couldn’t go wrong here with either Tampa Bay’s David Price, who tied for the league lead in wins (20) and led the majors in ERA (2.56)...Our pick is Price, who would’ve had 3-4 more wins were it not for the Rays’ pathetic offense — they were shut out in three of his starts.

Again, it is frustrating to read Bill Madden has the mental capacity to grasp wins are dependent on how much run support a pitcher gets and then watch him completely ignore this and use wins as a reason a pitcher should win the Cy Young Award. I'm not arguing the pick, but the way he gets to the pick. If you know wins are dependent on another variable, why use wins as the basis for why a pitcher should or should not win an individual award?

AL ROOKIE MIKE TROUT

Trout unanimously. Did we mention he’s the only player in history to have 30 homers, 45 stolen bases (49) and 125 runs (129) scored?

But these aren't the appropriate cherry-picked statistics that could earn Mike Trout the AL MVP award. If Trout had gotten the Triple Crown, then he could have been AL MVP. As his lack of luck would have it, he only broke a record that doesn't have a fancy name.

NL ROOKIE BRYCE HARPER

Even though Cincinnati Reds handyman Todd Frazier bested him in RBI, OPS and batting average, we’re giving Nationals’ “super teen” Bryce Harper the nod here on style points.

Fuck it, Bill Madden is going to make up new criteria in order to award NL Rookie of the Year to the player he wants to award it to. Harper also leads Frazier 17 to 4 in "GBpY, (Groupies Banged per Year)," though in Frazier's defense 10 of those groupies banged by Harper thought Harper was the lead singer of a New York emo band.

Harper’s superior speed gave him a huge edge in runs scored (98-55) and he was one of the best defensive outfielders in the NL.

Notice how all of a sudden defense means something in terms of handing out individual awards. Mike Trout gets no credit for his great defense, while Bryce Harper does get credit for his great defense. It's almost like Bill Madden has his choices for each award already picked out and has to create a moving standard in order to give each player the award Madden believes he deserves.

NL MANAGER DAVEY JOHNSON

You could justify giving this one to any of the division winners — Davey Johnson of the Nationals, who improved his team from 80 wins in 2011 to an MLB-best 98, the Giants’ Bruce Bochy, who lost his best player, Melky Cabrera to a drug bust in August and still ran away with the NL West or Dusty Baker of the Reds, who won the NL Central by nine games.

Or, you could give the award to a manager who didn't win his division but still may have been the best manager in the National League...if such a person exists.

We’re going with Johnson, however, for instilling a winning culture with the youngest team in the NL and successfully holding off a very good Atlanta Braves team despite losing his catcher, Wilson Ramos, going through four closers and having his best pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, shut down in September.

And of course there is no need to consider the manager of this very good Braves team as a potential candidate for this award. After all, it isn't like the manager of said very good Braves team had to deal with losing his best pitcher halfway through the season (Brandon Beachy) and having his #1 and #2 starters coming into the season (Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens) both struggle and spend time in the minor leagues to the point Jurrjens is going to be DFA'd after this year and Hanson would not have made the postseason roster. That's the problem with comparing a team's battle scars to advocate why a manager should win Manager of the Year, nearly every team has some of these battle scars.

NL EXECUTIVE WALT JOCKETTY

We’re always happy to honor an old-school GM such as Walt Jocketty, who values scouting and instinct over stats.

"Should I trade for the Padres 24 year old ace? My instincts say 'yes.'"

"This Cuban left-handed pitcher who can reportedly throw over 100 miles per hour..is this someone we should make a bid to acquire? Screw the stats, let's make a go for it."

"Oooooo...do I offer a contract extension to a 20-something year old first baseman who recently won the MVP award? I'm not going to pay attention to the statistics at all because my gut says to go for it."

He traded three prospects and disappointing righty Edinson Volquez to the Padres for an ace in Mat Latos, who went 14-4 with a 3.48 ERA, and dealt three other prospects to the Cubs for lefty set-up man Sean Marshall (74Ks in 61 innings), who provided more depth to the best bullpen in the NL. Lastly, Jocketty signed Ludwick, an old favorite from his St. Louis days, for $2 million.

I can see Jocketty as the Executive of the Year, but I get a bit tired of hearing how he is a win for those who value scouting and instinct over statistics. He makes good decisions just like he makes bad decisions. Ludwick was a deal for $2 million and he dealt for an ace pitcher. These are smart decisions, but not the type of decisions that requires "gut instinct" or any special non-Sabermetric-type talent. Jocketty is the same GM who gave Ryan Madson $8.5 million to close for the Reds and then Madson got injured. It seemed like a deal at the time though and you can't blame him for injuries. I wonder what Jocketty's gut said about Madson needing Tommy John surgery?

Now Dan Shaughnessy continues to reveal his hatred for bloggers and anyone not named "Dan Shaughnessy." 

Eric Winston is my idol.

Eric Winston stood up for pro athletes against the tyranny of unfair expectations and gleeful joy that fans and writers feel upon that athlete's failure. Basically he stood up against much of what Dan Shaughnessy writes on a weekly basis. So not shockingly, I don't see how Winston is Dan's idol.

By now, maybe you’ve seen the video clip. Winston stands in front of his locker after the Kansas Chiefs’ 9-6 loss to the Ravens Sunday and tells us what he thinks about the hometown fans who cheered when Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel was knocked unconscious in the fourth quarter.

Amen, brother Eric.

Winston is from Midland, Texas. He went to the University of Miami. He plays offensive line. He is 28 years old, is 6 feet 7 inches, and weighs 300 pounds.

These are all things I already knew about Eric Winston because I follow the NFL on a regular basis. Okay, I didn't know he was from Midland, Texas, but I know a little something about Midland, Texas and you get my overall point. NFL fans know who Eric Winston is and of course so does Dan Sha---

I never heard of him before Sunday, but I love this guy.

What? Dan Shaughnessy covers sports for a living and he has never heard of Eric Winston? Ever? Not even last year when Winston was the starting right tackle for a playoff team? I don't get how Dan Shaughnessy can cover sports and not have ever heard of Eric Winston. Winston is generally considered one of the best right tackles in the NFL. I simply don't understand how Dan had never heard of Eric Winston, though this does tell me a lot about Dan's wealth of knowledge when it comes to discussing the sports he gets paid to write about. If there was a way for me to lose more respect for his writing, this would do it.

Let’s go over a couple of points here:

What Dan really means is, "Let me lazily extend this one small idea into a full column because I have nothing else I care to write about today. The Red Sox season is over, so I can't keep thrashing them, and the Patriots won on Sunday, so I can't say how much they suck. I don't pay attention to the Bruins unless they are in the playoffs and it is too soon to talk about the Celtics."

Dan then begins rambling about this problem in a desperate attempt to fill space in the column. It reads like a Dr. Seuss book.

It’s not a regional issue. It’s not about Kansas City. It’s not about Boston or New York or Philly being a tough town for ballplayers. It’s not about a heated rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State.

"And what popped out of the egg? It wasn't a terrible turtle or a horrible Who. It wasn't a snotflogger or a fleabagger. Not the Grinch or a Sven the Dolphin without a fin."

It’s an issue about civility in America today.

Of course there is no better person to teach America about civility than Dan Shaughnessy, the same guy who wrote columns like this one. In this column he manages to accuse of Nomar Garciaparra of faking an injury, using steroids, and called him a fraud. Not that Red Sox fans have to like Nomar, but it is kind of hard when articles like this appear under Shaughnessy's byline for him to be claiming America lacks civility and not include himself prominently in this discussion. He gets off on being negative and trolling his audience.

It’s about accountability.

Says the sportswriter who repeatedly compared Adrian Gonzalez to Ted Williams, the same sportswriter who then bashes Gonzalez on his way out of town as a player who doesn't make his team better or carry the Red Sox team.

It is about angry fantasy football players who do not know how to look someone in the eye, or hold a face-to-face conversation.

I'm not entirely sure what Dan is talking about, but millions of people play fantasy football and hold down full-time jobs while looking other human beings in the face. So this lack of accountability isn't about fantasy football owners any more than it is about sportswriters who write columns purely to irritate and annoy their audience. I am sure Dan feels accomplished now that he has managed to incorrectly stereotype millions of normal people who in Dan's own opinion are clearly inferior people to himself. Dan is good at being hateful.

It is about fanboy bloggers who kill everyone and everything under the brave cloak of anonymity.

Again, not every blogger does this. Many bloggers are no less anonymous than Dan Shaughnessy is. I realize Dan is talking generalities, but it is a false generality with some irony involved in this criticism. If I want to talk to Dan Shaughnessy by email, I very much doubt he would respond to me and I know he doesn't respond to any comments left on his columns. So I don't understand how Dan can claim to not be under a cloak of anonymity. For intent and purposes he is still anonymous in that he can write columns and no matter what he writes there are no repercussions. He seems to write what he wants to write. I can approach Dan on the street, so he isn't anonymous in that way, but simply knowing what he looks like doesn't mean he has accountability to his readers.

It’s about instant tweets fired from the safety of your basement. 

Oh, "basement!" That's where all bloggers and fantasy football players live. I get it. There is no difference in what Dan Tweets and everyone else Tweets. Other than the fact Dan's Tweets come from Dan Shaughnessy, a person who has a ton of accountability and never would write anything that lacked civility. Take a look at Dan's Twitter account and see how often he engages with fans. The answer? Not often. So he is essentially still anonymous to his readers.

In fact, Tweeting has helped the public know who the real idiots are. A stupid comment can be Retweeted and that person would get barraged with negative comments for being such an insensitive idiot. The Internet makes people tough guys, but the fan reaction to Matt Cassel wasn't because of Twitter. It was a mob mentality which has caused everything from riots in various cities around the world to the death of Jesus. But no, blame technology for the ills of the world.

It is about anonymous bullying with the World Wide Web serving as the new bathroom wall.

Anonymous bullying is so much less worse than non-anonymous bullying. It's fine for Dan to bully "fanboy bloggers" and fantasy football players because his picture is right beside the byline. It's not bullying if you know who is bullying you, even if you have no way of engaging that person in a conversation. Right?

Those of us who write stories and do talk shows are not blameless.

(Faints in shock)

I’ve certainly done my share of tweaking and exposing professional athletes or organizations who don’t give an honest effort to live up to their contracts or fulfill the team-fan accord. In print, on TV and radio, we contribute to a climate of anger in the stands. But at least you know who we are.

If I say something stupid, at least you know how to tell me and I will respond. What does it matter if we know who Dan is? Do we really know him because we see him on television or read his work? Of course not. Being on television doesn't give Dan more accountability.

Notice how Dan still doesn't take responsibility (where's the fucking accountability, Dan????) for contributing to this problem. He says he contributes "to a climate of anger in the stands." He doesn't contribute in what he writes, but in how others react to what he writes. So it isn't Dan's writing that is the problem, it is the idiot blogger and fan boy's reaction to his writing. It's more of a passive responsibility that Dan has. At least Dan knows something about accountability though.

Sunday he was a person with a head injury, lying on the ground of Arrowhead Stadium. And a number of fans cheered. They cheered because they were frustrated, angry, and certain to remain anonymous.

This is what the Internet guarantees.

Dan does realize these fans are in the stadium booing, not on the Internet, doesn't he? I don't see how fans booing and cheering at a player being injured is "what the Internet guarantees" since these people are clearly in the stands of a football game in full view for anyone to see them.

Be as vicious as you want. Let it all out. Cheer the plight of the struggling quarterback while he lies motionless on the field. No one will ever know it’s you.

THEY ARE AT THE GAME! THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT ANONYMOUS TO THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM!

How on Earth does Dan think he isn't anonymous when he is on television but fans at a Chiefs fan cheering a quarterback who got hurt are completely anonymous? Why am I taking my time asking questions to absolutely no one in particular?

No. Supporting the team doesn’t give you the right to be a sub-human coward.

So says Dan as he sits behind the comfort of a keyboard while sitting at home. I won't excuse the behavior of the fans, but see the issue here? Dan is accusing fans of ripping athletes anonymously, yet that's exactly what he does in part to athletes. It's fine for Dan to do it, because he "isn't anonymous" despite the fact he sort of is anonymous, or at least difficult to get in touch with from the perspective of his readers.

Dan Shaughnessy can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.

I emailed him at his Globe address after he wrote this column and have yet to hear back.

11 comments MMQB Review: Broncos Should Consider Rehiring Mike Shanahan and Signing Jake Plummer Edition

The Broncos have to at least 35% regret firing Mike Shanahan and drafting Jay Cutler in 2006 at this point. McDaniels has not handled this Cutler situation expertly and Jay Cutler is giving diabetic people a bad name by being a crybaby.

I actually dislike MMQB even less during the offseason because we are not subjected to the constant barrage of "Here is how Peyton Manning threw that last TD pass on the final drive on Sunday," or stories about why Ray Lewis is the best linebacker ever, with descriptions for each in pure puff piece fashion. Sometimes these stories are decent but most of the time they just seem to take up space. Hence when Peter can't talk about this type stuff, we get three page long columns. I prefer this.

Let's see what Crybaby Cutler is complaining about this week.

Quite an offseason we're having.

I know! You are moving to Boston and Kevin Youkilis shaved that godawful beard he had. Now he looks like a normal human being instead of looking like that guy that hangs out at the park blasting Metallica from his van waiting for unsuspecting 5 year old boys to walk by.

I'm going to lead with the Cutler story, following two chats I had with Denver coach Josh McDaniels late Sunday night.

(Peter King) "Josh, you have the most beautiful eyes. Based on your experience with the Patriots as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, do you think Tom Brady or Matt Cassel has a better beach body?"

(Josh McDaniels) "Peter, I am very uncomfortable right now, let's stick to the football questions."

(Peter) "Ok, do you think Tom Brady or Matt Cassel has bigger biceps...to throw a football."

(Josh McDaniels hangs up the phone...while Peter King sits Indian style in a vacant room at his new apartment nude except for a Red Sox hat on head sideways)

(Peter calls back) "Josh, sorry."

(Josh) "It's ok Peter, I understand...(clearly uncomfortable), let's just say Tom Brady is superior not just on the football field and leave it at that."

(Peter writes this in his diary and then asks McDaniels another question) "What's with Jay Cutler?"

(Josh McDaniels) "Fuck him."

(Peter hearing a door slam) "I have to go put some clothes on, the wife is home. Come visit me sometime...I live in Boston now!"

(Josh) "I will literally never do that."

"I would probably be really good for Jay, and I know he would be really good for me,'' McDaniels told me over the phone from Denver. "I think that's the part that's shocking to me.''

Seriously, I am not having a fake conversation between these two anymore. It does sound like it though.

I reported recently that Cutler wanted to be traded after the Broncos lost both Mike Shanahan (fired) and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates (went to USC as offensive coordinator), and that message was delivered to the Denver front office. Now I expect Cutler, through agent Bus Cook, to reiterate his demand ... and what's more, I expect the Broncos to seriously consider it.

This is where I am sort of kind maybe not feeling bad for the Broncos. They wanted to trade Cutler and took steps to do so. Now we are supposed to feel bad that the Broncos are "seriously considering" trading Cutler? They have already seriously considered it, now they got caught with their pants down by a crybaby quarterback and have few choices but to trade him because he can't handle the big boy world the rest of us live in.

Owner Pat Bowlen said Sunday night, "we might lose'' Cutler, though he was not specific about how, or why, or when,

Quick comparison here. Imagine at your job you heard they were looking to hire another person who the new head manager/president had worked with previously for your job. It turned out that person did not want to leave his old job so he did not accept your position, but you are pretty pissed off at this and feel like you have no job security, so you start looking for new jobs. Would anyone feel bad for the company you work for if quit and they get stuck with no one in the position? I doubt it. That's why Pat Bowlen needs to be smacked for phrasing it like "we might lose" Cutler. You already tried to lose him, now he is wanting to leave. That's kind of your fault.

But in the end, Denver will have to strongly consider trading Cutler. If you're a rookie coach, as McDaniels is, and you've got to set the right tone for the team, how can you have a quarterback who doesn't want to be there as your franchise leader?

Fortunately McDaniels is planning on turning over a lot of the roster, so there won't be a lot of old players there to get pissed off at this.

The Broncos have already strongly considered trading Cutler. Though Cutler is a crybaby, I feel like there is a strong "poor Broncos" sentiment in this article. I think Cutler should man up and get over it all, but Denver tried to trade the crybaby and now they have to pay the price...they would not be in this situation if they had not tried to initiate a trade. It's pretty simple.

"This was a non-issue until Thursday [Feb. 26],'' McDaniels said. "There was obviously a scenario where teams figured we'd be interested in Matt Cassel, because I'd coached him in New England. When someone calls, I'm going to consider it, because that's my job.''

This where, from my point of view, Peter King starts giving one of his old New England buddies a way to weasel out of the fact the tried to trade he tried to make. Here's the thing. There is only one team that had the rights to Cassel, New England, and if McDaniels had initially said he would not consider a trade that would have been the end of it. Even if there was a three team trade that was offered, he could have declined immediately, which he didn't. Granted there could have been teams involved with the discussions, but he only had to make his intention clear to one team and that team is New England.

McDaniels did pursue a deal with New England on the first day of free agency, but not intensely, he said, because he and Broncos general manager Brian Xanders were in the middle of doing six free-agent negotiations in the opening two days of free-agency.

Here goes Peter giving McDaniels a forum to explain why he did nothing wrong. This is not true. It doesn't matter how intensely the Broncos pursued a trade, it matters to Jay Cutler they did pursue this trade. So Josh McDaniels did pursue a trade for Matt Cassel and Jay Cutler is being a baby and needs to get over it, but he is hurt by this.

"Do I understand about Jay being hurt that we'd consider this?'' McDaniels said. "Sure. But I can tell you that it wasn't like there was any grand plan by us to trade Jay Cutler. That wasn't the case.

Actually when you pursue a new starting quarterback as a new head coach, that is exactly part of the grand plan you have for the team. The new quarterback is arguably the very most important key to this grand plan.

I do feel like Jay Cutler is in the wrong, but this "did I do that, because I didn't mean to?" shit by McDaniels is not valid either. He pursued a trade for Matt Cassel and he is dealing with the consequences from a sad little quarterback.

"I think we were too late to the dance,'' he said, meaning the Chiefs had already made the deal with New England -- a second-round pick for Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel.

Maybe I am interpreting this differently, but this tells me that Matt Cassel would be a Bronco if the Broncos were earlier in expressing interest in Matt Cassel. It tells me Josh McDaniels did want Cassel on his team, but the deal was done so quickly they could not get a decent offer on the table.

I asked McDaniels if he feels he'll be forced to trade Cutler.

As opposed to voluntarily trading him like they wanted to do? Again, I am not defending Jay Cutler, but I am saying the Broncos don't deserve the sympathetic-ish words Peter King is using here. This would all end if Jay Cutler could grow some balls and realize shit like this happens.

Maybe Cutler can't take the dissing he feels from McDaniels, or maybe he's fabricating the dissing to justify in his own mind going somewhere else. I don't know.

This is what I am talking about. Peter thinks Cutler is being a baby or he is a liar. I just imagine if this situation involved Peyton Manning and wonder if Peter would feel the same way. I am not saying Jay Cutler is Peyton Manning but if the Colts hired McDaniels would Peter react the same way to him bringing Cassel in and trading Manning. I really doubt it.

I'm a little surprised San Diego did right by Tomlinson. The Chargers don't know if he's going to struggle again next year, and they've got to find increased carries for young and hungry backs Darren Sproles and Jacob Hester.

Just to follow up on what I said in the Ten Things...for this this week, I don't get why Tomlinson can not be a Fred Taylor type back. Maybe it is the money that he is making, but Peter was all about some Fred Taylor as a 150 carry back and yet he is completely down on Tomlinson in a similar role. It has to be because he is making so much money, otherwise it makes no sense.

Quote of the Week III

"Stop following me around.''

-- Text message from Shawn Springs, who signed with the Patriots, to longtime rival Terrell Owens, who signed with the Bills last week. The two will play twice a year in 2009.

I wonder how many times Brett Favre sent Peter King a text that said this?

Somehow Peter had to squeeze in a mention that the Patriots signed Shawn Springs. Job well done Peter, here's a cookie.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me II

They like dogs in my new neighborhood, Boston's South End. I'm starting to think they like dogs better than people. The bank on our block not only has a sign welcoming dogs, but also a dog play area inside with a fire hydrant and a big water bowl. The pet store in the neighborhood, Polka Dog Bakery, bakes dog-treat cookies and gives them freely to customers, as well as selling some interesting dog food. (One is 100-percent rabbit meat.) And I saw a van Sunday morning stopping to pick up dogs at a couple of apartments in the neighborhood. The driver told me he was taking a passel of dogs out for a "play date.''

Again, please remember a factoid could actually be a false statement, so this could all be a big fat lie. I love being technical.

I have always wonder why the hell Peter King put his personal information under the heading that it "may only interest him." There is no way it doesn't only interest him. Why the hell would anyone else give a shit about his life, where he moves, what his kids do, or where he ate dinner. Does ANYONE like those people that give long drawn out stories about a vacation he/she took, busts out with pictures of their kids, or tells a funny story involving coffee? I say no.

I spent a pleasant day in Sidney, Ohio, speaking to a company there and dining with some executives, and realized the restaurant-chaining of America is leaving most towns the size of Sidney (pop.: 20,211), in western Ohio, without many or any non-Applebee's, non-fast-food options.

Peter cares about the little guy! He wrote this statement on his new Blackberry phone, while at the airport waiting for his limo to pick him up to take him to the airport, where he would fly first class, and then bitch in his weekly column about how many ice cubes are in the drink.

Also unearthed this nugget while out in farm country: New England tackle Matt Light is evidently the year-'round Santa Claus of his old high school, Greenville High, in nearby Greenville, Ohio. Equipment and uniforms and shoes sometimes just show up there, and everyone asks, "Where'd this come from?'' But they figure it out pretty easily.

I would be willing to bet even our favorite New England commenter Fred Trigger is going get tired of hearing little facts about each Patriot, now that Peter lives in Boston.

2. I think the owners will lock out the players in 2011. Welcome to the new job, Mr. Smith.

I am intentionally ignoring any talk about a lockout because I don't want to think about it. So that means I am not talking about the new NFLPA leader or anything like that...unless Peter says something stupid related to that of course, then I will make fun of him and leave it at that.

3. I think Seattle got the better of the Cory Redding-for-Julian Peterson deal. Without a solid defensive line to open rush lanes for him with the Lions, how is Peterson (five sacks in 2008) going to get to the passer?

Isn't Julian Peterson a linebacker? So rushing the passer is not his first real job. In that line of thought, wouldn't his first real concern be to make tackles? So the question should be who is going to take up blockers so that he and Ernie Sims can make tackles? The Seahawks also now have a question about who is going to tackle the ball carrier, other than Leroy Hill and Tatupu. Also, this trade now means that the Lions probably will not take Aaron Curry first in the draft and does this mean the Seahawks think they can get Curry and will not be taking Crabtree...if not, does this mean that Curry could fall to the Bengals at #5, and if so, how fast would they draft him?

I will be here all day to ask the more important questions when a trade happens. I can't believe, well I actually can but still, Peter's first response was in regard to how many sacks Peterson would get, which is not even a linebacker's main job in a 4-3 defense.

6. I think my money is on Dallas hosting somebody (the Giants, perhaps?) in the first Sunday night game of the year on NBC Sept. 13. The Cowboys are opening the showplace stadium to end all showplace stadiums in Arlington, at a cost of $1.15 billion, and the NFL will want to give Jones this mega-platform to open the place.

The NFL does need to support the opening of new stadiums by non-playoff teams. I mean they do have an owner that is the poster child for meddling owners that have very little concept on how to correctly build a winning football team and puts winning above the NFL's discipline policy and has done so for nearly twenty years now. Congratulations Jerry Jones, you have been rewarded for mediocrity once again!

9. I think the Patriots are going to have to work on their heart and soul this offseason. First Josh McDaniels goes. Then Scott Pioli. Then Mike Vrabel. Now Larry Izzo, their special-teams captain and conscience, who left the other day for the Jets.

I know, the Patriots who are 27-5 over the last two seasons have lost two aging linebackers and lost two guys who don't actually play the sport of football. Good thing the Patriots have four or five picks in the first two rounds and are getting the best quarterback in football (arguably) back this year. They have not lost any key components to last year's 11-5 team and are adding better pieces in Fred Taylor and Shawn Springs. None of them had heart and soul though, so I predict only a 13-3 record for them this season.

Even for a flatliner like Bill Belichick, who lives by the what-are-you-going-to-do-for-me-this-year mantra and never lives in the past, it's going to be a daunting task, getting his team ready without so many stalwarts in his front office, coaching offices and locker room.

Peter, worry about your favorite team on your own time please or create a blog to express your concerns. The Patriots are going to be fine. They draft incredibly well and always have players that are ready to take over starting spots. This year will not be different.

You don't have to read this line below, I am not defending Ann Coulter, I am just kind of fed up and wanted to take it out on Peter, it is intended to be more angry than political and is not intended to start a discussion because I hate politics.

b. Thanks, Ann Coulter, for reveling in the decline of the liberal newspapers. Nice of you to be making the great money you obviously make while hard-working reporters and editors and photographers -- from liberal and conservative papers alike -- are being put on the street every day. This is a crisis without ideological fault lines, sister. And the New York Times isn't going anywhere.

Yeah, sister. Brother Peter knows what the hell he is talking about because he is someone who makes nice money writing an online column and being on television while hard-working reporters and editors and photographers are being put on the street. It's a "crisis" that poorly managed and run industries are going out of business. This is America. Unsuccessful businesses and business models should be allowed to stay in business. That's how this country was built dammit and that is why we should bail out every unsuccessful business in the country...to keep the stench of failure throughout America. Tell it Brother Peter. It's not like Americans are innovative or anything, let's just keep rewarding those for using an outdated business model.

Sorry for that rant, it was out of place, but I can't help it sometimes. I do feel bad for those that lose their job in the newspaper industry, but it is a dying industry unless the proactively attempt to find a way to save it. I don't see that happening.

c. I'm really going to like reading Dan Shaughnessy every day.

Is he going to make up another Curse to sell books? If so, I would not appreciate that.

I thought I was going to miss Starbucks on this move, because the nearest Starbucks is six or eight blocks away,

I realize it is the South End of Boston and people may not drive everywhere, but six or eight blocks away? That's it. And Peter was not willing to walk that to get a cup of coffee. That just doesn't seem like a whole lot of walking to me.

h. My Rotisserie draft is Tuesday night, which worries me for two reasons: With the move, I haven't studied, and I'm in a smart league; and it's St. Patrick's Day, a day I'm never at my best at 8 or 9 at night. Uh-oh. Looks like a long year for the Montclair Pedroias.

Uh-oh Peter is getting drunk on St. Patrick's Day! Maybe he would write his columns better if he was writing them under the influence of alcohol instead of being under the influence of cake.

7 comments MMQB Review: Free Agency Fiasco Edition

I would have probably enjoyed this week's MMQB even more if I did not have what can only be described as a mix between whooping cough, a headache, and a cold. Regardless, I still enjoyed it very greatly. It has everything I look for in a Peter King MMQB, tributes to Bill Belichick's genius, talk of how great Matt Cassel is, stories that no one really cares about, and more importantly, Peter King talking out of his ass.

Let's do it...one day late.

Last weekend had it all -- a controversial signing of a defensive star (Albert Haynesworth), one of the game's 10 best quarterbacks in 2008 (Matt Cassel) getting dealt

one of the game's 10 best quarterbacks in 2008 (Matt Cassel) getting dealt

one of the game's 10 best quarterbacks in 2008 (Matt Cassel) getting dealt

Just because I don't want it to be true, doesn't mean that it isn't, but on the same train of thought, just because Peter King L-O-V-E-S Matt Cassel doesn't mean his statement is true.

I am completely tired of talking about this but Matt Cassel did not break my personal top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL list and I am going to assume I am not the only one who thinks after one season where he was ranked #10 in the league in quarterback ranking it is a bit premature to call him one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the league.

I hate repeating myself, but he led a team that had gone 16-0 the year before to an 11-5 record while playing an easier schedule than the team that went 16-0 and he was 2-4 against playoff teams. It's not like he took a team that was sorry and helped them become good again, he took one of the best teams of all time and kept them above average. I wish I could drop this, but I can't. Peter King is absurdly in love with Matt Cassel.

So here's what I've got for you today:

• The real meaning of the Cassel trade, and all that is left in its wake.

Please update us on that trade because you have rarely mentioned this Matt Cassel guy in your weekly columns. I wouldn't feel right if it did not get analyzed seven hundred different ways by you to make sure your favorite team made the right decision.

• The most aggressive free-agency recruiting story I've ever heard. You've got to read what Rex Ryan did.

He kidnapped Bart Scott's children and refused to release them until Bart Scott signed with the Jets? He burned down Bart Scott's house and would not hire the "Extreme Home Makeover Team" to rebuild it until Scott signed with the Jets?

Actually he showed up at Scott's door a little after midnight. How audacious.

• Why Belichick not only didn't try hard to get Kansas City's first-round pick instead of its second -- but also why he actually prefers the 34th pick to the third overall.

Of course he does. Bill Belichick doesn't need your stupid first round draft picks to have a good team, he actually originally asked for a 6th and 7th rounder, just to show what a badass he is. Peter just wants you to know that Belichick did not get fleeced in this trade, he just didn't want to get good players. Because he is a fucking genius and Peter King is absolutely willing to buy whatever Belichick is selling.

A lot of people around the league are questioning whether Belichick did a favor to Pioli since there are reports other teams offered a 1st round draft pick for Cassel, which Peter King says is not true. Would you expect him to say this is true? He loves Belichick and everything he does.

I think we can all agree that Matt Cassel is a definite upgrade over Tyler Thigpen. Somewhere Dwyane Bowe did a fist pump when he heard this news.

After Scott secured the dogs ("I'm just glad Mater and McQueen didn't take a bite out of those guys,'' Scott said Sunday night. "I'd have had to spend a chunk of my signing bonus for stitches.'')

1. Bart Scott has two dogs named after characters from the movie "Cars."

2. How much does Bart Scott think stitches cost? $100,000?

At the end, the Ravens were at least $3 million off the total package of the Jets, who signed Scott for six years and $48 million, most of which he actually should see. Seems close to me, but it wasn't close enough for Scott.

Ross Tucker would be very proud of Bart Scott for this. I am still getting nuggets of knowledge from his "every player goes after the money" column.

"I'd always wonder if I could have done it by myself, if I could have actually been the leader of a good defense. In a lot of ways, our defense was like the Bulls, and Ray was Michael Jordan. We had a lot of Craig Hodgeses on our team, but we had a few Scottie Pippens too.''

Great analogy, but be careful what you ask for. I just want to point out that Scottie Pippen won zero championships without Michael Jordan and that some people began to question whether Pippen really was one of the top 50 players of all time once Jordan retired. There are advantages to playing on teams with great players and one of those benefits is that they can cover up a lot of your faults.

The answer is they didn't get taken in the trade of Cassel and Mike Vrabel. Belichick did underplay his hand, but there were extenuating circumstances,

Of course there were extenuating circumstances. If this trade were made by any other organization in the NFL, the general consensus would have been that the team got fleeced. The Lions got a 1st and 3rd round pick for Roy Williams just last year. Hell three years ago the Patriots got a 1st round pick for Deion Branch. I would think one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL could get more than just a second round pick. Of course we all know Belichick did not want any more than a 2nd round pick, which I can understand because the #3 pick will be expensive, but I am not sure that is a reason to undersell Cassel and Vrabel.

And he had some pressure on him to make the deal early in free agency because the team was so snug up against the NFL's $127-million salary cap, and because he knew Cassel's value wasn't as high as it should have been because of his mega-salary and the fact he'd only played at a high level for one year.

So basically Belichick knew that Cassel wasn't one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL, though Peter King will never believe this. To him, Cassel is one of the top 5 quarterbacks in the league.

I had two contenders for Cassel tell me essentially the same thing: They wouldn't deal a first-round pick or a second- and something else for Cassel, and then pay him a multi-year contract with a bonus of maybe $20 million and $35 million in guaranteed money. Too risky, they thought. (I disagree but I'm not running a franchise.)

Peter King would not want the opinion of Belichick, Scott Pioli, and two other unnamed teams to affect his opinion of Matt Cassel though. He listens to the experts like they are preaching the gospel until they tell him something he doesn't like, and then he ignores them.

Unfortunately Peter King is not the only "insider" in the league and the Broncos were reportedly willing to give the Patriots a 1st round draft pick for Cassel, and that did not include Vrabel being thrown into the package. No one says a team has to maximize the value they receive for a player in a trade though, so if Belichick wanted to give those players to the Chiefs that would have been fine. This just doesn't go with his shrewd reputation around the league.

And last week, before the market opened, I'm told he never got offered a first-round pick by any team in trade. I'm also told he asked Pioli for the 34th pick in the draft -- nothing more -- and when Pioli told him he'd do it, they had a deal.

Seriously, if this were not Bill Belichick everyone would be wondering what the hell this guy was thinking. Everyone just assume he knows what he is doing because of who he is. Peter King chooses to believe Belichick knows what he is doing, and I tend to agree overall, but I still can't believe no one would give a 1st round pick for Cassel. Maybe Peter King is the only guy who thought he was worth a crap.

I like how Peter phrases this, "last week, before the market opened, I'm told he never got offered a first round pick by any team," but the 3 way trade with the Broncos was supposed to take place (I believe) after the time period Peter is talking about. Again, Belichick doesn't have to maximize his return but this is very odd he did not get a 1st round pick for Cassel.

In essence, in the way the NFL pays rookies, the eighth pick's compensation is equivalent to the combined pay of the 23rd, 34th, 47th and 58th picks.

That is indeed crazy and it makes sense for why Belichick only wanted a second round pick rather than a 1st round pick. I don't know why he did not try and get a 3rd or 4th round pick as well though.

Want my crazy theory? My crazy theory is that Belichick wants to be known as one of the greatest head coaches of all time (who can blame him? He is already close to being thought of as this) and a strike against him right now is that he doesn't have a successful coaching tree (Meaning previous people who have worked for him have been successful in head coaching) like Bill Parcells has. I think he wanted to give Pioli a chance to build a good team in Kansas City because it would also help to cement Belichick's legacy since Pioli came from New England. Of course that doesn't explain why he did not give Josh McDaniels a 1st round pick, but that is why my theory is crazy.

In other words, if Cassel doesn't want to be one of the two or three highest-paid quarterbacks in football, they could get a deal done. If he does want to be in that territory, I expect the Chiefs to make him play out this year at $14.65 million, then, if necessary, tag him next year at 110 percent of his pay this year. But it makes sense to make a deal for the future, so they don't have to be laying out $30 million over the next two years with no future certainty beyond that.

I guess we are just going to keep assuming that Cassel is going to be awesome in Kansas City and will be good enough they keep him long term.

"You're not going to remember Albert as a bust. You're going to remember him as a great player.''

-- New Washington defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who signed a four-year, $48-million contract with the Redskins on Friday.

If you don't remember Haynesworth as a great player, he will step on your head. I am sure Haynesworth is going to be motivated now that he has gotten paid a ton of money. Hey, at least defensive tackles are not known for losing motivation once they get paid...wait, no defensive tackles ARE known for losing motivation. Sorry, I got confused. I am glad the Redskins did this AND signed DeAngelo Hall. They clearly have no intent on competing in the NFC East long term.

Want to know why seven-time Pro Bowl defender Brian Dawkins was so eager to leave Philly? It had something to do with being wanted, which, in today's football, is all about the Benjamins.

Money Dawkins earned in the last three seasons in Philadelphia: $7.2 million.

Money Dawkins will earn in Denver in 2009: $7.2 million.

It looks like the Broncos overpaid for that safety that Woody Paige wanted them to get.

a. The Houston Texans signed Dan Orlovsky for $9.15 million over three years. Stunning. They really think of Orlovsky as a solid backup quarterback? On what planet?

After all the contracts signed this week and weekend, this is clearly the not most absurd. Not if you consider the two contracts the Redskins handed out or the fact Dominque Foxworth got $7 million per year. The Texans gave a backup quarterback $3 million per year, so sure they overpaid, but it will not have the potential down the road salary cap implications the other deals I just mentioned will have.

Maybe the reason he was so bad is because he played for the Lions. I know he is famous for not knowing where the end zone is, but I am sure the losing culture and the fact the other players there stunk did not help him.

b. Fred Taylor, humble, helpful, classic unselfish vet,115 carries this year. Perfect fit in Foxboro.

These are the type of smart moves the Patriots make.

e. You tried on Houshmandzadeh, Seattle. Taking him up in a pontoon plane for a city tour and landing on Lake Washington and walking up on the dock to your practice fields. Cool stuff.

f. But I don't think you're getting him.

This is why Peter King gets paid the big bucks because he has such great inside information on players. Sometimes I think he would be better off just guessing where players are going.

Houshmandzadeh signed with Seattle at 5pm on Monday.

i. Jason Brown, the new St. Louis center, sure made a lot of money last weekend for a guy no one ever heard of last Wednesday.

When sportswriters say that no one has ever heard of a certain player, it means they have never mentioned a player in their columns. Because if they don't mention a player, he doesn't exist. The mere mention of a person by Peter King suddenly makes that person exist and gives them relevance in this world.

I had heard of Jason Brown and I am sure a lot of other people have as well. He played center for the Ravens, who made the AFC Championship Game, so if you watched the game, you have heard of him.

3. I think this is my one additional thought on these huge contracts and their huge guarantees: In 2008, DeAngelo Hall signed a seven-year, $68-million deal with the Raiders, with -- allegedly -- $24 million in guaranteed money. So when he got whacked in midseason, how much did he end up earning in Oakland? Exactly $8 million. Not $24 million. Gibril Wilson signs for six years and $39 million and leaves after a year. Insane.

If Peter is going to continue to expect sanity in regard to personnel moves from the Oakland Raiders, he is going to be sorely disappointed. The funny part is they paid $50 million for Tommy Kelly, which was the worst contract they gave out last year, and he is still around, while Wilson had a great year and is gone.

4. I think the best deal of the weekend was Antonio Smith, the versatile defensive lineman for the Cardinals -- and the best defensive lineman they had,

Wow, now there is a statement that tells you how great he is. The Cardinals, who are not known for their great defensive line, have lost their best defensive lineman Antonio Smith. He tore up the league for 3.5 sacks last year.

How was this a great deal again? The Texans gave 5 years and $35 million for a guy who has a career high of 5.5 sacks. Maybe he will play better with Mario Williams on the other side, but $12.5 million guaranteed dollars for a guy with a career total of 14.5 sacks doesn't scream "great deal" to me.

5. I think our prayers go out to the people lost at sea off the Florida coast, including NFLers Marquis Cooper of the Raiders and Corey Smith of the Lions. Can we hope there are tiny islands they might have found?

You can hope they found tiny little islands but that still doesn't help the fact those tiny little islands probably don't have a regular supply of food and sterile water. Keep hoping though...

8. As free agents go, I think I would want a brittle Shawn Springs right now more than I'd want Leigh Bodden.

As far as personnel evaluators go, I would trust my 95 year old grandfather to choose which players my favorite team should sign more than I trust Peter King.

d. Coffeenerdness: Mitch Puin, you threw me a lifesaver Sunday at the Upper Montclair Starbucks, and you know it. I owe you big time for rescuing me in my need-a-fix time when I was wallet-less and needed help getting through the checkout. Thank you.

Instead of mentioning Mitch in his weekly column, why doesn't Peter just actually pay Mitch back?

Am I the only one that thinks Peter intentionally forgets his wallet sometimes so he can get free coffee and have someone to talk to at the coffee shop?

"Hi, I'm Peter King with Sports Illustrated and I need a coffee fix. I have forgotten my wallet, do you mind spotting me a few bucks and I will mention you in my column. Have you seen that Josh Beckett, I think we are going to hear a lot from him in the future."

e. New York, and not only the football fans, is really going to like Bart Scott.

It appears that Peter King really, really likes Bart Scott. I think we are going to hear him mention him a few more times in the future.

f. Happy birthday, Marcy "Mike Ticey'' Fost. How old are you? Sixteen?

What is wrong with using a text message, a phone call or any other type of communication to tell people these things? Clearly, no one reading this column cares. I think Peter has a false picture of self importance where he thinks a mention in his weekly MMQB column is much more genuine and nice than a birthday card. As usual, he is wrong.

9 comments MMQB Review: Reporting By Guessing and (Finally) a Matt Cassel Update

Peter King gives us some good reported information this morning, unfortunately none of it is actually information from actual people or sources that Peter has. It is instead based on educated guesses Peter has. That's always useful.

I know I already spoiled it in the title but we also get an update on Matt Cassel's situation in New England. Did he sign his tender or not? More importantly, why are we so worried about the status of a backup quarterback when there are about 14 other players who were franchise tagged? Those are the questions I am dying to have answered.

Let's get to the guesses.

I think Ray Lewis will seriously consider leaving the Ravens.

(Cue creepy horror film music)

I wonder what tells Peter this? Could it be because Ray Lewis has not signed with the Ravens yet or DeMarcus Ware of the Cowboys was quoted as saying Lewis told him he wanted to play for the Cowboys?

I love how on certain issues Peter actually makes an effort to give the player a call and find out what is happening, while in other situations it doesn't seem like me makes much of an effort. Maybe Ray would not return his phone calls and Peter was making an effort but it doesn't seem that way.

Will he go? Don't know. But my guess -- and it's an educated guess, nothing more -- is Lewis, who turns 34 in May, will not get a deal done with the Ravens before Friday,

There we go. That's exactly what I am looking for from an NFL Insider, an educated guess. Why actually look for information when you can get an educated guess? Thanks for the information. If I wanted information where there was no actual reporting done, I would go to TMZ.

Wouldn't that be amazing: Ray Lewis with the star on his helmet. Or Ray Lewis coming to the Jets.

Seriously, amazing? Amazing is that I watched a UFO Hunters episode this weekend about how airline pilots and even NORAD had reported multiple sightings of UFO's and there was the black box conversation that proved it. That's amazing to me.

An elderly NFL player who is a free agent choosing to play for one of two teams that have a recent history of trying to sign players that were good 5 years ago...not amazing. The Cowboys are not relevant in my world because they have to win a playoff game before I take them seriously and the Jets, are the Jets. I see nothing amazing about Ray Lewis going to the Jets.

Simply because Lewis may go to one of the NFL's cherised and overly loved teams doesn't make this an even more important story than it should be. Though if Lewis goes to Dallas, I am sure ESPN will have the first sit down interview with him and Terrell Owens, where Keyshawn Johnson asks tough questions like, "Ray, were you concerned about T.O.'s past behavior before you signed with Dallas," and "Ray, would you still hit T.O. if he went over the middle in practice?" Then everyone would laugh because everyone already knows T.O. never goes over the middle whether it be in practice or in games.

This could be a case where the Ravens -- with $19.4 million to spend under the 2009 cap -- might be forced to match a financial package that would simply be too much for the new Ryan-less regime to stomach. It'll be an interesting week in Baltimore.

Whoa. Are you suggesting the Ravens overpay for Ray Lewis? This is contradicts your own fellow writer/ex-athlete/fellow genius Ross Tucker who says the Ravens should not overpay for Ray Lewis. We have dueling educated guesses here at CNNSI.com!

There's no long line waiting to pry Albert Haynesworth from the Titans.

This doesn't shock me. The media hyped up Haynesworth all year long and it got tiresome. I took a look at his numbers at the beginning of free agency and they did not overwhelm me that much. I don't know how many times I have read message boards encouraging my favorite team to sign him. He has played in 60 of possible 90 games over his career, has character issues, and has 24 sacks for his career with 35% of them coming in his contract year. Not the kind of player you want to give a lot of money to.

In the end, my guess is Snyder will pay up and grab him. He's the kind of trophy player Snyder would love to have, and the kind of player, if healthy, who will really help the Redskins close the gap on the Giants in the NFC East.

Great, I love guesses! I know there is no real information on where players are going to sign as of yet, but what's the point of having Peter King around if he can't get SOME information? That's what he does, he calls around and gets information, then reports it. Or this is what he should do.

Considering the Redskins were last in the NFC East last year, they may want to close the gap on Philadelphia and Dallas first before worrying about the Giants.

The Falcons are going to release Michael Vick.

Wh-Wh-What? No team wanted to trade for an overrated quarterback that is currently in jail on federal charges? I am shocked and awed.

I can't figure out a landing spot for Matt Cassel,

How about on your lap?

but I'll be surprised if he's a Patriot on July 1.

If he surprises you and is a Patriot in July 1, will you shut the hell up about him?

Cassel did sign his franchise tender, by the way;

Whew, I was worried about what the backup quarterback for the Patriots was going to do.

Ok, now cue Peter King's massive love for the New England Patriots and Matt Cassel...

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.

What person in their right mind would be suspicious of a quarterback who goes 11-5 with a team that went 16-0 the previous season? Come on, you have a sample size of sixteen games to work from! That's plenty of information to judge Cassel on...He led a team that was 16-0 the year before to a record of 11-5, doesn't that say something other than the fact the Patriots have a good team with or without Tom Brady?

Peter wants you to ignore the fact the Patriots went 2-4 against the playoff teams last year and in those games Cassel had a completion percentage of 58%, a 7/6 TD:INT ratio, and 4 of his 5 worst games in passer rating were against the playoff teams he played. Sure, those are cherry picked numbers, but they are also what Cassel did against teams that did not have 49ers, Seahawks, Rams, Chiefs, or Raiders in their names. Cassel was not an elite quarterback this year and he was playing with a supporting cast that was elite on offense and with a genius head coach. If someone was really stupid, they would ignore these facts and sign Cassel to a massive deal. Peter King seems to ignore these facts.

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.

This doesn't shock me.

I think Cassel and Todd Haley would make beautiful music together.

I have nothing against Matt Cassel, I really don't, though I get to hear about him every other week in a Peter King column and it does annoy me. Other than the fact he went 11-5 for a team that went 16-0 the year before, I don't know too much about him as a quarterback and reqally have no way of judging him. He seems like he would be a great quarterback for the Patriots system, but I would be surprised if you put him on a lesser team, not to mention a team in such disarray as the Chiefs, and he succeeded. I could be wrong.

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,

Now we have a real problem. How would a genius like Belichick let a quarterback like Josh Freeman slip all the way to the 3rd round and let the genius Pioli get him there? I don't know how the NFL is going to survive having two geniuses in the league. It may sense when they worked for the same team but now there is just genius chaos.

Once, when Stafford's visage appeared on ESPN during a training session, Pedroia yelled out, "Oh look! We're in the presence of GREATNESS!''

That Pedroia...what a kidder and he really doesn't seem like an obnoxious asshole at all. I bet if I met him face to face, I would not want to kick his ass because he seems like he has a big mouth.

I wish Stafford has just laughed at Pedroia and reminded him he was going to be as wealthy as him very soon, at a younger age, AND he can shop in the men's section at stores, then stepped on that annoying little midget.

Nnamdi Asomugha and Larry Fitzgerald are going to be the kind of quasi-Lebronish millionaires this game has never seen, other than at the quarterback position, before they retire.

I'm exaggerating about the Lebron James comparison, of course, because he'll make in excess of $300 million playing basketball by age 30. But non-quarterbacks earning $125 million, $150 million, in a career? That's mind-bogglingly inflationary.

Non-quarterbacks earning that much? How is this any more mind boggling than quarterbacks earning that much money? I know Peter has a thing for white quarterbacks, but any player earning that much in his career is mind boggling to me.

It had to do with the contract the Raiders negotiated with agents Tom Condon and Ben Dogra for Nnamdi Asomugha. Put simply, this is the kind of revolutionary contract that will reverberate around the league for this entire off-season. Maybe longer.

This was an insane contract and only the Raiders would be dumb enough to give it to a player when they so many more pressing needs.

Asomugha's average pay per year is $5.77-million per year more than Samuel's, or 62 percent more than any cornerback contract ever. Good for him. And good for the Raiders in one way -- they don't lose their best player, and because they don't force a franchise tag on him, they don't have their best player grousing about what a bad team he's on ... at least for now. But in this economy?

I get a little tired of everyone talking about "in this economy?" when it comes to player contracts. Team revenues are going to be hit fairly hard by the economy but that is not going to stop teams from signing their best players to massive contract extensions because they still want to put a quality product on the field.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

You won't see the Jets or the Giants at home on Monday Night Football this year, the same way you saw neither team in a Monday-nighter in East Rutherford last year. Seems the league is being sympathetic to the needs of the construction site at the stadium -- the teams will share a new stadium at the Meadowlands beginning in 2010 -- and a lack of parking in and around the stadium when there is active construction makes a weekday night game a major headache.

Yep, that only interests you.

A factoid is defined as, "a spurious — unverified, incorrect, or fabricated — statement formed and asserted as a fact, but with no veracity."

Basically Peter King is saying that this statement has absolutely no truth to it and may in fact be false. I really doubt he realizes this.

I shook the guy's hand and thanked him for coming over. After three rounds of beers and appetizers, I had to take off for a pre-arranged dinner.

3 beers? Peter better watch that Blood Alcohol Content level, even though you did eat three rounds of appetizers. Seriously, I hope that is a fucking joke or I am intentionally misreading this to make funnier, though I can see Peter launching his massively round, stubby fingers into an avalanche of nachos and cheese, then some potato skins, and finally ordering a plate of fries covered in chili sauce. Who the hell orders "rounds" of appetizers? Beers, sure, but "rounds" of food?

I can't believe Peter would go out and eat all that food in this economy. You know he gets comped for that meal by either NBC, SI, or one of the other companies he works for, so that is just a waste of money...and he does that in this economy.

b. I asked Sanchez how he's going to overcome the inexperience stigma, because he threw the ball only 313 times in college. "Matt Cassel,'' he said. "He never started a game in college, and look at him.

Yeah, he was a backup for three years and now is stuck behind the NFL's best quarterback (or at least the second best) unless he gets traded. Any team looking for a franchise quarterback is going to want Sanchez to compare himself to a bit more accomplished quarterback. If I were Sanchez I would compare myself to Tom Brady or any other quarterback who has succeeded in the NFL over more than a two year time span but did not play much in college.

Plus, I played the best defense in the country every day in practice, ones against ones, at USC.''

Not the same thing as a real game. I really think Sanchez could fall in the draft. I am probably completely wrong but I just don't know how I feel about his pro prospects. If the semi-success of another USC QB and the fact he practiced against a good defense are reasons the thinks he could succeed in the NFL, then I really am not sure I like his prospects at all.

c. I'll tell you who looks like a man. Brian Orakpo. The Texas defensive end, at 6-4 and a rockish 260, looks like he'll be ready to play opening day for somebody. He's trying to model himself after Osi Umenyiora of the Giants.

Meet this year's Chris Long. The guy Peter will talk about all the time and eventually mention how the Patriots really wanted him and that is where he should have gone in the draft.

k. I don't care one bit about Michael Crabtree's stress fracture in his foot. He's been playing with it, and it can be repaired perfectly with the implantation of some screws. Players have survived and flourished with similar injuries, and I can't see any reason why he still shouldn't be the sixth or eighth pick in the draft.

Peter King doesn't care, because he is just so damn defiant. The Seahawks would have to be declared mentally deficient if they don't draft him at No. 4 and if the Bengals lose both T.J. and Chad Johnson, they should look at him as well. They may as well give up on upgrading their defense, because with Chris Henry as the top receiver Carson Palmer will get "hurt" again this year.

4. I think I know these two things don't go hand-in-hand, but the Carolina Panthers just laid off 20 employees.

Hey, I know where this is going...

You're telling me in a week you commit $60 million to Jordan Gross for six years, and $16.5 million for one year to Julius Peppers, that you've got to whack 20 employees?

I am sorry, this is laughable. Are teams supposed to not sign and re-sign players to the football team because the front office is having some issues with keeping the staff around? It sucks to have to fire employees, it really does, but I can't believe an "experienced" NFL insider would be shocked at this. If the Panthers don't sign Gross and franchise Peppers they become free agents and the team is weaker and another team signs those players making them stronger. I hate it when normal people get laid off, but this should not shock anyone that players get re-signed for millions at the same time. I would never want to get laid off and I feel bad for those that have this happen to them, but the players are the most irreplaceable staff members.

I also find it ironic that Peter questions how NFL teams are spending their money when Sports Illustrated is laying off employees and they still find enough money for Peter to pay for his hotel rooms, food, travel expenses, and probably overly generous salary to go to the Scouting Combine and God knows where else. I realize Peter is a really important person but I think they could save some money by not paying for Peter to go to the Scouting Combine and everywhere else he goes in the country, but they would rather not do that because they don't want to dilute their product. It is very similar to what Carolina did.

Also, considering Peppers is now the most wanted defensive player who is sort of "on the market" and Gross got the 2nd highest contract a offensive lineman has ever received, I think it is kind of bullshit this is the only mention these two events get. I don't need Peter to mention events concerning my favorite team, but to give full reports on the Matt Cassel and Mike Vick situations and pretty much ignoring these events is not being the best journalist you can be.

This is from a purely neutral point of view, as much as I can be, because I actually have never really liked Julius Peppers...but to cover Matt Cassel repeatedly in such in depth coverage and to completely ignore the Julius Peppers situation, except in passing comments, reeks of journalistic bias. I don't care where Peppers goes, I just want him gone, but I think Peter should break down where he could go or anything related to the situation, just like he has done for Matt Cassel innumberable amounts of times.

teams need to show loyalty to the people who've worked hard for them -- people not at the top of the salary foodchain.

Says the guy who did not get laid off from Sports Illustrated while his traveling expenses are still being covered by the company.

9. I think some cornerbacks and some defensive linemen are going to make an awful lot of money Friday morning.

Only the teams that have not had staff member layoffs will sign these player though. Right Peter?

a. Kate Winslet is so real. I'm glad she won Best Actress. Was that one of the great Oscar speeches you've ever seen?

Why is it when an actor/actress has a real life body weight or image, the press constantly makes them seem like more real people? She is married to a high profile director, has been nominated six times for Academy Awards and is a millionaire. That is not the definition of real. She seems like a great person but shut up about this.

e. You had a chance, A-Rod. You had a chance to do the honorable thing and say you either made a mistake or flat-out lied about Selena Roberts breaking into your home and stalking you and your children, which is patently wrong. You didn't do it. You should be ashamed.

Yes, A-Rod should be. I agree. Speaking of Selena "The Dude" Roberts, where is she on uncovering those other 103 names on the steroid list? I guess she has sold enough books and doesn't feel the need to do this. Again, not defending A-Rod, but there are other players on that list and I would love to know who they are. At this point pretty much every meaningful record set in the past 10 years is under question and, on a personal note, it would make me feel very good to see Mike Piazza's name on the list. He has made me sad many times and I need revenge.

f. I got the Blackberry Storm. Phones are never going to be the same again.

For those that can afford a Blackberry Storm, this is great news. I can't believe Peter King is bragging about his brand new fancy phone that very few people can afford...and doing it in this economy?