The Kansas City Chiefs will shop quarterback Matt Cassel around the league now that Alex Smithis taking over as head coach Andy Reid's hand-picked starter. It's unlikely that they will find a trading partner willing to take on salaries of $7.5 million in 2013 and $9 million in 2014, however.
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Once Cassel is released, two potential landing spots are the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings. The Cardinals are performing due diligence on Cassel with the idea of "not instead of Kevin Kolb but alongside him," NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported Thursday on "NFL Total Access." New head coach Bruce Arians likes Kolb, who is expected to take a pay cut to remain on the roster for the 2013 season.
Cassel would not be a good bet to dethrone Kolb, as his deep-passing woes are ill-suited to Arians' vertical offense. He could, however, be an upgrade on backup John Skelton, which is important considering Kolb's checkered injury history.
Rapoport cautions not to rule out the Vikings as competition for Cassel's services. Although head coach Leslie Frazier has maintained that Christian Ponder is his quarterback, the Vikings are on the lookout for a veteran to "teach" and "push" the young starter.
With 30 turnovers in his last 30 games, it's fair to ask exactly what Cassel would be teaching Ponder.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.