In the end, it didn’t come down to a favor, two old pals pulling one over on the rest of the league or one guy feeling all sentimental about the other.

Yes, Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick have been friends for 20-plus years. The two worked together to build a dynasty in New England before Pioli left for Kansas City earlier this offseason. And Pioli was maybe the only opposing GM in the league that really knew what Matt Cassel was worth. But this weekend’s deal between the Patriots and Chiefs would have made sense to anyone. The two were ideal trade partners: New England had a backup quarterback slated to make $14.65 million, a starting quarterback that — apparently — it feels is ready to return and not a lot of cap space. Meanwhile, Kansas City had plenty of room under the cap, had an ideal draft pick to give and needed a quarterback after seeing what was available at the combine.

Voila! Cassel and his contract head to Kansas City, while New England gets a second-round pick in return. The biggest surprise is likely the inclusion of outside linebacker Mike Vrabel, a steady and consistent performer for the Patriots since he arrived prior to the 2001 season. But even that wasn’t that shocking a move when you consider how New England has treated even its moderately priced veterans over the years: The Patriots have always paid out for future performance, never for past effort. Sentimentality is for losers. (See Lawyer Milloy or Drew Bledsoe.) His age — he’ll be 34 at the start of the 2009 season —combined with a contract that had Vrabel making north of $3 million for 2009 was likely enough to get him a one-way ticket out of town.

Critics point to the idea that an NFL-ready quarterback like Cassel should bring more than just a second-round pick. And when you toss in Vrabel? Two years ago, the Falcons got two second-round picks for Matt Schaub. Surely Cassel and Vrabel could have fetched more. I smell a conspiracy — Belichick decided to help an old pal rebuild Chiefs at the expense of his team.

That’s patently absurd. This is the NFL — those sorts of favors just aren’t done. Gold watches, farewell dinners, sure. But this? Nope. I’m not naive enough to think that wink-wink deals aren’t executed — hey, the way the league has collectively found its way around the franchise tag with the sign-and-trade deal is fishy. But a secret deal on the way out the door to help another team in the conference? If you believe for a second something like that took place, then you simply haven’t been paying attention to the way the Patriots do business ... since 2000. The chances of that conversation taking place are laughably low. You know what Scott? I know I forgot to get you a gold watch — how about I let you pull the wool over on me the next time we talk trade instead?

That aside, the question remains: Did the Patriots get hosed? Not if they are able to take advantage of the opportunity that has been presented to them. If they can use the roughly $19 million in cap space that has dropped into their laps wisely, then it’ll be remembered as a good trade for New England. That means either using it on one of the free agent linebackers that’s still available or taking the dough and using it to pay some of the veterans who are signed through 2009, like Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, Logan Mankins and Stephen Gostkowski.

In addition, New England adds a draft pick. It now holds five of the first 89 selections in April’s draft — the 23rd, 34th, 47th (from San Diego), 58th and 89th, and could get one more when compensatory picks are announced next month. No team has more picks on the first day of the draft than the Patriots. Draft picks have always been treated like a precious commodity under Belichick — he’s shown a proclivity to package picks in a draft day deal. Don’t be surprised if he tried to do the same before the Patriots are on the clock.

On its own, the deal looks like a one-sided swap. But seen within the overall context of New England’s team-building approach, chances are very good that it will work out in the Patriots’ favor.

Christopher Price covers the Patriots for WEEI.com. He can be reached at cprice@weei.com.