page_title: Matt Cassel
section_title: Minnesota Vikings
hierarchical_section_title: Matt Cassel / Professional career / Minnesota Vikings
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Il QB dei Minnesota Vikings Matt CasselEnglish: Minnesota Vikings QB Matt Cassel
context_page_description: Matthew Brennan "Matt" Cassel is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL draft. He played college football at USC. A journeyman quarterback throughout his career, Cassel has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, and Detroit Lions.
  Cassel became the Patriots' starting quarterback after Week 1 of the 2008 season when reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury. Cassel performed well going 10-5 at the helm, however the Patriots missed the playoffs and became only the second team to finish 11-5 and miss the playoffs. In February 2009, the Patriots used their franchise tag on Cassel, extending him a one-year contract worth over $14 million, the largest one-year contract for an offensive player in NFL history. Later that offseason, the Patriots made a trade which sent Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs, who signed Cassel to a 6-year, $62.7 million contract in July 2009.
context_section_description: On the same day he was released from the Chiefs, Cassel signed with the Minnesota Vikings. On September 27, it was announced that Cassel would get his first start as a Viking in Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, due to a rib injury to starting quarterback Christian Ponder. The Vikings won the game 34–27. Due to another injury to Ponder, Cassel received his third start of the season Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens. Despite a two-touchdown, zero interception performance, the Vikings lost by a score of 29-26 during a heavy snow game. He would remain the starting quarterback the rest of the season where the Vikings finished with a 5-10-1 record and Cassel either played the whole game or came in to rally the Vikings from behind in all five victories.
  On March 7, 2014, it was reported that Cassel had signed a new two-year deal for $10 million. It was later announced on August 25, 2014, that Cassel would be the starting quarterback over rookie Teddy Bridgewater and Ponder. However, on September 21, 2014, Cassel broke his foot against the New Orleans Saints and was placed on injured reserve. In only three games, he totaled 425 passing yards, three touchdowns, and four interceptions.
caption: Cassel with the Vikings
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2048", "Image ImageLength": "1463", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "Twenty members of the Minnesota National Guard watched a Viking's training practice from the sidelines. This opportunity is something the general public has little access to, yet the Viking's organization opened their doors to show their support for the sacrifices that Guardsmen make for their country. After observing the practice, Viking team members came to meet and greet the troops, signing autographs, posing for photos and thanking participants for what they do. Jared Allen surprised each participant with two tickets to the Viking/Packer game held the following day. The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) assisted in hosting the event as the official military appreciation sponsor of the Minnesota Vikings.(U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Rechtfertig/Released)", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2013:10:29 18:17:24", "Image Artist": "Staff Sgt.Jennifer Rechtfertig", "Image Copyright": "Public Domain", "Image ExifOffset": "1116", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1366", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6775", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF Tag 0x9009": "[10, 42, 8, 1, 16, 1, 24, 0, 32, 0, 40, 0, 48, 0, 56, 0, 64, 0, 72, 1, 80, 0, 88, 0, 96, 1, 104, 1, 112, 0, 120, 1, 128, 1, 1, 136, 1, 1, 144, 1, 1, 168, 1, 1]", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "754", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "940", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1240"}