FanHouse Matt Cassell

Updates all over the place: It would appear Mr. Lombardi was premature with his call -- Peter King is reporting (via Twitter!!) that no deal is in place. And as PK noted earlier, he's in Kansas City, so this seems to be the more reliable report at the moment.

Matt Cassel is, according to reports from Mike Lombardi on the NFL Network, suddenly an even richer man than he was when the Patriots franchised him and sent him to the Chiefs. That's because, reportedly, he has signed a six-year deal (with $36 million guaranteed!) that will ostensibly make him the face of the franchise for Kansas City.

The contract is, obviously, also a pretty big sign that Todd Haley and GM Scott Pioli truly believe that Cassel is legit. Of course not as (relatively) legit as Matthew Stafford, but, hey, he played at Georgia.

There will be no retired player on the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL 10. Instead, EA Sports will return to its custom of jinxing an active player picking one of the NFL's biggest stars for the cover of their best-selling annual game.

The game itself won't be released until August, but the process of choosing this year's cover boy is well underway. The company has narrowed its choices down to nine finalists. If you think we're due for a defensive player on the cover, this may be your year.

The playoffs are either upon us or one week away in the majority of fantasy football leagues. With this in mind, Fantasy FanHouse is examining what you can expect from the fantasy relevant players on each team.

New York Jets

The opposing defenses: at SF (28th against pass, 16th against run), vs. BUF (14th against pass,17th against run), at SEA (32nd against pass, 22nd against run)
The skinny: Something tells me the Jets investment in improving the offensive line paid off, because Thomas Jones went from two touchdowns all last season to 11 touchdowns in just 13 games this season. The scary part is that the running game just keeps getting better. In his past four games, Jones has six touchdowns and 487 yards rushing.The passing game has been less reliable, but Favre still has six multiple touchdown games. As a Cotchery owner, I'll tell you, it never feels very safe starting him and I would only insert either him or Laveranues Coles in dire situations -- neither are very consistent. Finally, start Dustin Keller at will as he has an unbelievable 27 catches in the past four games.
The must-starts: Thomas Jones
The likely start: Dustin Keller
The spot-start: Brett Favre, Jerricho Cotchery, Leon Washington, Laveranues Coles
The no-starts: Chansi Stuckey
The D/ST: The Jets defense is one of the best in the league against the run (30th) and worst against the pass (4th). After getting torched by the Broncos last week, I'd say you're better off with an all-around solid defense, but you could do worse than starting them against the sputtering Seahawks.

Who needs Tom Brady?

Matt Cassel has come in and taken total control of the Patriots offense, leading them to a 48-28 win at Miami. The win puts New England in a tie with Indianapolis and Baltimore for a wildcard spot.

Cassel threw for at least 400 yards for the second straight week; becoming the first quarterback to do so since the immortal Billy Volek did it in 2004. In fact, he becomes one of five quarterbacks to toss for 400+ yards in consecutive games since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 (Phil Simms, Dan Marino and Dan Fouts are the others).

That's some company to keep when you nothing more than a stand-in for last year's MVP. By the way, Brady has thrown just one 400-yard game in his career. Cassel's asking price this offseason just got a little bigger.