Matt Cassel had no problem in Kansas City Chiefs’ pursuit of Peyton Manning – NFL News
Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback, Matt Cassel, who missed half of the last National Football League (NFL) season owing to a hand injury, has said that he did not feel any disrespect when the team attempted to sign quarterback, Peyton Manning, following his release by the Indianapolis Colts.
While acknowledging high stature of Peyton, Cassel appreciated the team management’s approach of handling that matter.
Chiefs had already informed Cassel that they would chase Peyton if the player became free agent and the player apparently seemed satisfied with it.
After joining the team for its offseason voluntary workout programme, Cassel, who is hundred percent fit now, said:
“Scott Pioli [Chiefs’ general manager] was very open with me about the fact that they were going to reach out to Peyton and, for me, I didn’t take any disrespect in that. Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning. He’s one of the best quarterbacks to ever play this game, so how can you take disrespect in that?”
The quarterback added:
“I appreciated the fact that they were in communication with me. They didn’t’ want me to find out about it from somebody else.”
Cassel started his professional NFL career in 2005 with the New England Patriots. After playing four seasons with the Pats, he joined the Chiefs in 2009.
In his first season with Chiefs, he played and started 15 games of the season and completed 271 passes of 493 attempts for 2,924 yards while throwing 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He received a quarterback rating of 69.9.
In the next season, his performance was much better as he completed 262 passes of 450 attempts for 3,116 yards. He sent 27 touchdown-passes and seven interceptions and received a quarterback rating of 93.0.
In the last season, he played nine games before the injury struck him. In those nine games, he completed a total of 160 passes for 269 attempts for 1,713 yards while sending 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions, receiving a quarterback rating of 76.6.
One of the main reasons behind Cassel’s comparatively weak statistics is that fact that Chiefs have continually changed their offensive coordinators and the quarterback will work with fifth offensive coordinator now as he enters his fourth season with the team.
He hopes to perform well this season so the team will not have to find his replacement.
Tags: