This is an understandable but underwhelming move by the Bills. With young and still-raw QB prospect EJ Manuel still around, Buffalo continues to need a veteran presence under center to lead the offense until Manuel is ready (if that ever happens). Cassel is not a promising option, since he hasn't posted a strong NFL campaign since 2010 (with Kansas City) and is probably a downgrade to last season's Bills starter, Kyle Orton (who retired).

With talented second-year signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater looking ready to take the next steps to stardom, the Vikes save some money by moving Cassel. They still have Christian Ponder around to provide backup support, and adding the picks will help with the future. This is a very solid move all-round by the Vikings, who move forward with the present and future here.

This trade has minimal fantasy impact, since Cassel was out of a starting job in Minnesota and isn't likely to do much that's fantasy-worthy now that he's a Bill. The fact that defensive specialist Rex Ryan is at the Buffalo head coaching helm only further reduces any fantasy appeal Cassel might have, as Ryan's lengthy tenure with the Jets featured some awful seasons by quarterbacks. Whatever fantasy value Manuel might've had will probably disappear for awhile--since Cassel will probably start early on--but if Manuel can start showing significant improvement it's hard to imagine Cassel being much of a roadblock to the starter's job. In Minnesota, Ponder gets a small fantasy sleeper boost now that he seems to have the top backup job locked down.