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Matt Cassel will be a free agent this offseason, as he will void the final remaining year on his contract to hit the market, according to Ian Rapoport. Cassel was scheduled to earn $3.7 million with the Minnesota Vikings before voiding his contract, which means he'll expect a bigger salary from his new team.
Cassel would be a relatively low-cost way to add some real competition for Mike Glennon, whose future as a starting quarterback remains unclear. Dan Orlovsky is a free agent, so the only competition the Bucs have on the roster right now is practice squad player Jordan Rodgers. It doesn't matter much what you think of Glennon: there's no way the Bucs can be content with Rodgers as their backup quarterback. They'll add someone, and Cassel would probably be the best option in free agency.
Is Matt Cassel a great quarterback? Absolutely not. He's a competent game manager who had a decent season, and a better one than Mike Glennon did, but he's little more than a placeholder and some competition for a few seasons. That is exactly what the Buccaneers need, though, given the fact that they're unlikely to be able to select a quality quarterback in the draft.
Matt Cassel may, in fact, be the best they can do to bolster competition on the roster. They might look at drafting a developmental rookie, too, but it seems more and more likely that anyone drafted will be no better than Mike Glennon, and no real competition, unless the Bucs make a move to trade up -- something they're unlikely to do.
The Bucs also have a few connections to Matt Cassel on the coaching staff and in the front office. General manager Jason Licht was a New England Patriots personnel executive when Matt Cassel had his one good season there, throwing to Wes Welker and Randy Moss. Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, meanwhile, was Matt Cassel's head coach in Minnesota.
It's still early in the offseason and the draft evaluation are far from done, but if the Bucs think Mike Glennon could be the answer at quarterback or they don't see a clear upgrade available in the draft, signing Matt Cassel would make a lot of sense.
