Mike Vrabel Traded to Kansas City
Posted Under: 2009, Offseason, Reports, Transactions
Reported by John Clayton on ESPN.com:
The Kansas City Chiefs were the youngest teams in football last year but new general manager Scott Pioli wanted to install some veteran leadership.
Pioli accomplished that task by trading an undisclosed draft choice to the Patriots for 33-year-old linebacker Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel is one of the leaders of the Patriots defense, and it will be his job to teach a good work ethic to the Chiefs.
In trading Vrabel, the Patriots cleared $3.35 million in cap room.
Wow, can’t say that I saw this coming. It’s tough to see him go after all the memories we have of him (he should have won MVP in the Superbowl against Carolina), but our linebacking core needs to get younger and faster. I had a good feeling that once Pioli left that he would be looking to grab a couple players from our roster and Vrabel is a great choice. He’s a leader on the field, plays smart and can single-handedly change a game with some big plays. His versatility is something that Patriot fans have learned to love and he is right up there on the list with Troy Brown.
With that said, there is now a void at OLB. Gary Guyton Pierre Woods was a nice story last year, but he’s not ready for full time duty by any means. Julius Peppers wants out of Carolina, has named New England as one of his hopeful destinations and also would like to play some OLB. Depending on what the Panthers would want for his services, I’d kick the idea around. Ultimately, I would rather draft a kid to play next to Jerod Mayo for the next 8-10 seasons.
Something that’s got me thinking… Pioli has been a mastermind at duping teams into making trades with him and always getting the better end. I can’t help to think that maybe he used his Jedi mind powers on our front office on this one. In all seriousness, I’m not too worried about “losing” this deal, but I want to know when he’s going to pick up the phone and call about Matt Cassel.
Reader Comments
There are rumors floating around that maybe this Vrabel deal is just setting up a Cassel to KC deal in the near future. If that were to happen with us receiving the #3 pick in return, I could see the Pats pairing Mayo with Aaron Curry and rolling with that duo for the next 8-10 years.
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Thanks for getting this. I was away and just got home so I couldn’t write about it.
I’m really dissapointed, Mike Vrabel was my favorite Patriot, maybe of all time. Consumate professional. Never complained, versatile, a quiet, yet forceful leader.
Plus he was pretty damned good. The most stable player on the Patriots defense in the last 8 years.
Make me think something is brewing like you said with Cassel to KC. I’m not sure. Maybe we’re offering something for Peppers. Maybe we’ll take Barwin or Maybin in the draft.
Clearly, though, something is in the works, as dissapointed as I am.
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I dont get why pats included vrabel????? we could have gotten so much more
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