MMQB Mail: Fins face huge game; would Pats consider dealing Brady?

Linebacker Joey Porter is enjoying a career year in his second season as a a Dolphin. Heinz Kluetmeier/SI

Not the best week for games this weekend. Jets-Titans is interesting, but neither team will be out of the playoff picture with a loss. Same with Giants-Cards, a possible NFC playoff preview. My pick for game of the week: Patriots at Dolphins.

Two 6-4 teams with great stories and November desperation. I believe this is a playoff game for Miami. If the Dolphins win, they're 7-4, with the NFL's softest schedule over the next month -- St. Louis, Buffalo, San Francisco and Kansas City are a combined 11-29 -- on the horizon. A Miami win Sunday means they'd be a heavy favorite to be, at worst, an AFC wildcard team.

"It's going to be a playoff atmosphere around here for this game,'' rookie head coach Tony Sparano said from south Florida. "After this [Oakland] win, I patted the players on the back and said, 'Men, it's time to go to work.' ''

Sounds like his boss speaking. Sparano has been overshadowed by Bill Parcells, and rightfully so. Parcells' presence is felt over this team when he walks through the locker room in the morning or shows up on the practice field. "But there's no question Coach Sparano is coaching this team,'' defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday said. "We feel Parcells, but he's letting coach run it, and he's pushing the right buttons.''

This shouldn't be a criticism of Parcells, though. Look at it this way: If you're Joey Porter, and you've had success in the NFL, and you're looking for a system and a team to believe in, would you play harder under head coach Cam Cameron backed by architect Randy Mueller, or under head coach Tony Sparano backed by architect Bill Parcells? Is there even a question?

It helps players to know Sparano was mentored by Parcells, but if Porter didn't believe in Sparano, and if Chad Pennington didn't, they wouldn't be having semi-career years right now. So give credit to Sparano for getting these players to respond, and for sending a consistent, unyielding message to his team since mini-camp began.

"The players have been great, and they've bought in,'' Sparano said. "With someone like Joey, one of the keys is -- and it's going to sound silly -- he's allowing himself to be coached. He didn't come in with the attitude that he has all the answers and he's going to play his way. He sees he can benefit from this system, and he's playing very well within it.''

Porter has a league-high 13.5 sacks. Pennington led the winning field goal drive against Oakland on Sunday, converting a fourth-and-five pass in the process. He says Sparano keeps telling the team, "Work hard, believe, and it'll happen.''

It is happening. Imagine a Thanksgiving in south Florida and the Dolphins tied for the AFC East lead, a game ahead of the almighty Patriots. A win at home Sunday and a Jets' loss at Tennessee, and it's real.

Now onto your e-mail.

• I'VE CONTEMPLATED THIS. AND NO, FRANKLY, I DON'T THINK IT'S VERY POSSIBLE. From Chris Bailey, of Lynn, Mass.: "I've got an amazing scenario for you. What if Matt Cassel continues to develop and even lead a deep playoff run. Could the Patriots trade Tom Brady? Wouldn't this trade lead to the biggest haul in draft picks since the Herschel Walker deal? Wouldn't the cap-savvy Patriots be able to bolster all of the team's current weaknesses with the cap relief received from moving Brady's contract? It's a ridiculous thought, of course. However, if any team was willing to try something like this in all of sport, wouldn't you bet it would be the Patriots? The ultimate T-E-A-M team. If the Pats see Cassel as only a minor downgrade to their team, and by making a move could shore up every single other area, wouldn't they at least consider it? I bet they would.''

I never dismiss anything out of hand with the Patriots. I'm on record as saying that if Brady got crazy with his salary demands four or five years ago and said he had to make $25 million or he wasn't going to play, the Patriots would have shaken his hand, wished him well, and handed the starting job to Rohan Davey. But let's figure this out, question by question:

1) Would the Pats realize significant cap savings by trading Brady and keeping Cassel? No. If the Pats trade Brady before the 2009 draft, they'd take a $10.3 million cap hit, which is the remaining pro-rated signing-bonus money from his current contract and the 2007 renegotiation of it. Any realistic trade would likely be for a current standout player and, minimum, a couple of high draft choices. If you couple those three elements together with the cap cost to re-sign Cassel, it actually would cost the Patriots more (significantly) to keep Cassel and deal Brady than to simply let Cassel walk.

2) Could the Patriots get Herschel Walker value for Brady? Maybe, but I wonder who would be bold enough to trade a monstrous package for a quarterback coming off knee surgery with complications and who would be 32 on opening day 2009. I' d pay the moon for the guy if his knee checked out, but how many GMs in the league would? Three or four is my guess. Maybe Jon Gruden would want to deal middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, knocking on the door of his first Pro Bowl this year, and two first-round picks for Brady because he's a quarterback-collector (come to think of it, I'm pretty sure he would). Whether New England would want that deal is another story ... I think the Patriots want to keep Brady.

• THE NFL WILL LOVE THIS E-MAIL. From Joe, of Kennett Square, Pa.: "Why should the NFL respond to the blown call in the Steelers-Chargers game? If memory serves me correct, the NFL is about football, not the betting line, and the league is paranoid about gambling and the appearance of improprieties in the public eye about this game. The NFL would be wise to avoid any controversy by ignoring the charges of the losers. The bets laid down are between the gaming establishments, bookies, etc. and the bettors. What plays in Vegas stays in Vegas!''

And Joe, I hope the NFL does not add the ability to go into the replay booth a second time for replays, as officiating czar Mike Pereira suggests may happen before this year's playoffs. The Steelers-Chargers play was a once-in-a-decade weird play that had nothing to do with the outcome of a game. I fear if a second review opportunity is made possible, then it will become a crutch for officials who want to go back and check for minor things. That's not why replay was instituted; it's there to correct obvious wrong calls. A referee should -- and 99.9 percent of the time does -- come out of the booth with a definitive call. Where's the crying need for a second chance on the same play?