A lot of people are, how do I put this, not happy with the fact that the Patriots traded Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs for the 34th pick in this year's draft. I'll agree with that assessment, because that's not much back for the QB of the future and a still decent linebacker.

But now it's getting even weirder. It turns out that the Denver Broncos, who were trying to trade Jay Cutler in a three-way deal involving themselves, the Pats, and the Bucs, were actually offering an even better deal than the Chiefs to get their hands on Cassel, but were turned down by the Pats.

Denver offered the Pats their first round draft pick (12th overall), in a three-way trade that would've sent Broncos quarterback Cutler to the Bucs, Cassel to Denver, and compensation to the Pats from the Bucs. The question is why in the hell would the Pats turn down a deal that was vastly superior to the one they agreed to?

No one knows for certain, but there are a few rumors out there.

1. Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick know each other well. This was a deal that had been agreed to a while back, and nothing was going to change that.
2. Bill Belichick doesn't like having to spend money on first round draft picks.
3. Belichick didn't want to help out Josh McDaniels in Denver.
4. This is all part of a plan by the Patriots to ultimately trade for Julius Peppers.

What's also interesting about all of this is that the paper that broke the story on Cutler potentially being in the mix to get traded was the Boston Globe, not the Denver Post. So one has to assume that the Patriots leaked the information on the potential Cutler trade, which has since infuriated Cutler to the point where he now wants to be traded.

So, it's totally possible that this move had already been agreed to by Pioli and Belichick, and then they also were presented with the opportunity to dick over McDaniels in the process, which they did. It works for Belichick, because he doesn't want to see any of his assistants become a better coach than he is, and it helps Pioli because the Broncos are in his division. Something smells pretty rotten in this deal, if you ask me. And I'm not the only one. Jay Mariotti, who I don't really like, thinks the NFL should investigate this trade, and I actually agree.

But, as I said, perhaps this is some incredibly complex chain of events that leads to the Patriots grabbing Julius Peppers. But until that happens, this Cassel trade warrants some serious questions.

Why would Pats turn down 12th pick for Cassel? [ESPN]