The New England Patriots didn’t wait long to play “tag” with Matt Cassel, placing their franchise player designation on the quarterback Thursday on the first day of a two-week window in which NFL teams can utilize their one-per-club, once-per-season tag.

The former seventh-round draft pick, who had the great fortune of proving his mettle at just the right time thanks to Tom Brady’s misfortune, is the first offensive player on whom the Patriots have used the franchise tag, and just the fourth since the league and the NFL Players’ Association instituted the tag in 1993. He follows kicker Adam Vinatieri (2002, ’05), safety Tebucky Jones (2003) and cornerback Asante Samuel (2007).

In a brief release announcing the move, Pats’ coach Bill Belichick was quoted as saying, "Matt has been a pleasure to coach his entire career and last season in particular, when his years of hard work and commitment resulted in a most impressive performance. We look forward to working with Matt again in 2009."

But it doesn’t seem likely Belichick and Cassel will be on the same team much longer.

Under the terms of the franchise designation Cassel would receive a one-year, fully-guaranteed contract, equal to the average of the top five highest-paid players at his position. This year, for quarterbacks, that number is $14.65 million.

(For comparison’s sake, as he started the first 15 games of his career last year, the final season of his rookie contract, Cassel made a total of $520,000.)

That’s a pretty high price tag for someone who will more than likely go back to his former position as Brady’s backup; recent reports say Brady is on track with his rehabilitation as he recovers from ACL and MCL injuries to his left knee suffered on Sept. 7.

And it also goes against the Patriot Way: with Brady slated to also make over $14 million in the coming season and the salary cap projected to be $123 million per team for the coming season, it seems folly to think that a club which has placed an emphasis on quality depth would dedicate nearly a quarter of its salary cap monies to two players, particularly at quarterback.

While in three of the four prior instances the Pats have waited until the end of the two-week designation period to use their tag, it may be a telling sign that this time it was done on the first possible day – it allows as much time as possible for a deal to be worked out that would send the 26-year old to another team. Also, New England placed the non-exclusive tag on Cassel, meaning he and agent David Dunn can talk to other clubs.

Opinions on what the Pats could command for Cassel have varied. Longtime NFL exec Michael Lombardi, writing for the National Football Post, on Thursday called Cassel the top quarterback available and said acquiring him could cost a first-round pick among the top 15 as well as a second-rounder. NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci says it will take a first-rounder plus to get the signal-caller.

That’s in addition to agreeing to a long-term contract with the player.

It’s a steep price, but Cassel is proven. He won 11 games and has learned from arguably the greatest quarterback of his generation in Brady. A general manager of a quarterback-starved team – say, the Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers or Chicago Bears – may rather do what it takes to get Cassel instead of taking a big financial gamble on a college player who may or may not pan out.

The 49ers need look no further than their own locker room. In 2005, they made Alex Smith the number one overall pick, signing him to a six year deal that included $24 million in guaranteed money. Four seasons later, Smith has played in just 32 games, with 19 touchdowns and 31 interceptions. He did not take a snap for the team last year due to injury.

The franchise tag was agreed upon by the league and the NFLPA as a means of preventing teams from losing star players to free agency, but Cassel is a bit of a special case. When last season began, there was no reason to believe he would be anything different than he had been the previous three seasons: Brady’s backup, who saw little time because the reigning MVP had never missed a start.

When Brady went down, however, Cassel stepped up. He threw 21 touchdowns, against 11 interceptions, completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 3,693 yards and led New England to an undefeated December as the injury-riddled team made an unsuccessful push for the postseason, falling short despite an 11-5 record.

The quarterback no one had heard of – ESPN’s Emmitt Smith called him “Matt Hassle” more than once during an early-season pregame show – suddenly became a hot commodity.

Cassel will more than likely net a tidy sum for the Pats in the form of draft picks, and no one in recent seasons has proven more adept than using picks as currency than New England. While it is unfortunate for him that he will likely not be able to choose his next landing spot, Thursday’s game of tag seems to assure that he will be in another uniform when training camp rolls around.

smanza@projo.com