The Patriots have been keeping an eye out for good running backs this offseason to make up for a small deficiency in that department. Free agent Fred Taylor has interviewed with the Buffalo Bills and the Patriots in recent weeks and has apparently decided to come to New England and play for a team that is looking to come back into contention this year. He has been very productive on his previous teams, but you never know how well a player will mesh. Jacksonville got rid of him last week, looking to get a younger player at the position and he will have to take a pay cut to play here. But it’s possible he will be on a winning team this year, so it may be all worth it.

The inside baseball of the quarterback battle is still going on. It’s not that there’s nothing to talk about, but this seems to be overshadowing everything again. Just looking at Patriot sites throughout the internet, you can see a wide variety of different discussions of where Cassel is headed. He’s not guaranteed to be leaving, but it’s hard to stop a guy who has shown to himself and the world that he can do a starting QB job. There are thoughts that he might be headed to Minnesota or Kansas City or several other places. There may be some big news on the way, as free agency starts a little later this week.

Tom Brady came out this week saying that his knee recovery is right on schedule. As a result, he certainly doesn’t expect to miss any of the 2009 season, and will probably be ready to play right at the opener. He doesn’t want to actually make predictions about that, though, because it’s still a little bit early. His trainer might tell him to take a little bit longer. It still depends on how things are going in the future, but it’s still looking good for him for the moment. Hopefully this doesn’t reignite a silly battle of the QBs again, like we’ve been seeing for many weeks now.

We’ve been talking too much about Cassel and Brady over the last little while. Of course, that’s important information, but there’s other stuff to talk about too. The Patriots are looking for wide receivers as well. Their website lists some of the best not-already-playing-somewhere-else WRs right now. It is going to be a fun time to see if they can pick up any of these, or which ones may fit in best in their system next year. Antonio Bryant and TJ Houshmandzadeh are the biggest names in that list right now, and they are apparently on their way out of their previous teams. It will be a lot of fun to see who will end up on the Pats, if anyone.

Matt Cassel is still all the news in the Patriots world right now. Who would’ve thought that this player was going to be the biggest discussion piece in the offseason section of the year in 2009? Apparently, with Cassel in their pen, there are two possibilities: Cassel might be on the way for another season, or part of another season, if Tom Brady is behind on his rehab. But if Brady is back, perhaps Cassel will be the biggest QB on the market, especially if Mr Warner stays in Arizona. It’s a great move by New England, it seems, even though they have a large chunk of their salary cap in quarterbacks right now.

The Patriots have a problem this offseason. They have two quarterbacks. For the moment, this is just hedging their bets, making sure they have a good quarterback to start with next season. No one is completely sure if Brady will be back in time for the start next season and it’s also not clear whether he’ll be back to full strength at any point in time during the season. If not, then Cassell will be ready to go at the beginning. If he keeps going the way he did last season, he may be one of the big powerhouses of the NFL this coming year. But it’s slowly developing into a soap-opera like event, where Belichick, the coach, has to choose between his two lovers. It’s getting more and more complicated as it goes on and he’s going to have to make his decision at some point.

Matt Cassell has been given the franchise tag this week, making it much harder for him to be traded to another team. He will probably make about 14.5 million dollars this season. He will be a free agent for the time being, but if another team approaches him, the Patriots will be allow to match or beat the other team’s offered salary or let him sign there in exchange for 2 first round draft picks. Matt Cassell could still leave the Northeast, but now it’s become quite a bit harder. It all kind of depends on whether Brady is actually able to play next season or not. I think we can look forward to his reappearance and see what happens with Cassell then.

Matt Cassell, with his very expensive tag being discussed, may decide to leave New England and go somewhere else. Where, though? Apparently, the Kansas City Chiefs are interested in bringing him in, because he is one of the best quarterbacks, and probably the best one on the market. The Chiefs also won 2 games last season and were unable to improve, no matter whether they had a new coach, QB or switching other players around. Cassell is going to cost a lot of money from whoever he is signed by. Luckily for him, he gets most of that money. He’s certainly ready to play on his own, since he just came off an improbably good season in Foxborough. Keep an eye out for this story, I’m sure we’ll have more to say soon.