PatsRI

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/pat...format=&page=2

One item of interest was this comment on the Labor talks:

"That being said, the feeling in the agent community is that significant progress has been made recently on a new CBA, with both the players and the owners pushing to get it done prior to free agency. In fact, there are rumblings that the signing period (set to begin March 3) could even be pushed back a week to allow all the details to be hammered out and everyone brought up to speed on the new numbers."

Sounds like a deal could be close but......

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Miguel

Man, this would compress the FA season even more because I can't imagine that the NFL would push back the draft by a week.

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shatch62

Per the Fleger article:
"The low end of the scale is represented by Cincinnati’s T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who signed a four-year, $13 million deal with the Bengals last offseason. More apt comparisons involve deals signed by Plaxico Burress with the Giants (six years, $25 million, $8 million in bonuses) and Derrick Mason with the Ravens (five years, $20 million, $7 million signing bonus) last year. And when former Pats veteran David Patten, 31, receives a five-year, $13 million deal (with a $3.5 million bonus) as he did from Washington last March, you get the picture: Givens, 25, should do very nicely for himself."

Givens is better than Patten as he is younger and bigger. He is comparable to Houshmandzadeh in size and production. If the contract Givens gets is better than Patten and around Houshmandzadeh then he will have been paid correctly. If anyone gives him Mason or Burress money than they are stupid.

Burress already had 3 seasons of 60+ receptions (high of 78) and 2 seasons with 1,000+ receiving yards (1,325 best).

Mason already had 5 seasons of 60+ receptions (the last two were 95+) and 4 seasons with 1,000+ receiving yards (1,303 best).

To date Givens has yet to have a 60+ reception season (59 career high) or even have one season with more than 900 receiving yards.

He is a good number #2 and he MIGHT be a good #1 for someone but if they pay him that way BEFORE he puts up the numbers I feel it will be a mistake.

BelichickFan

I'm not trying to rip on Givens, I would love to have him back, but he's a decent #2 WR or a great #3 IMO. He's big, strong and has good hands but isn't fast or quick enough to get open consistently. If we can find the right guy I would actually like to upgrade the #2 WR spot - and I'm guessing Belichick feels the same way, if we'd have signed Derrick Mason, he and Branch would have been the top two and Givens would have been a stud #3.

ilduce06410

givens isn't through getting better. he's improved every year in the league, and he'll be working like crazy this offseason too.
i love him as a #2, with a strong #1 on the other side or a TE/RB combo who catch the ball. if he goes to an offense where's a diversion he will hurt the oposition.
i'm sure BB/SP won't pay givens more than $2m a year. they still gotta deal with The Twig, who's on the last year of his paltry rookie contract.

ilduce06410

compressing the FA season seems the better option.
which FAs do you see BB/SP pursuing?

fgssand

Interesting off seasom coming up. New CB agreement will be in place and the new cap number will be the highest ever. Couple that with some easy restructuring ( Willie Mac, Starks, Poole, and others deals will be redone or some players cut)on our team and we are going to have some serious money to use.

I trust that BB and SP know what they are doing and will get the job done. I am hopeful that Givens, Neal, Ashwoth all sign on, that Branch and Seymour deals are done this year, and we may just be a little active in the FA market.

If you use Felgers conservative 9MM savings and factor in another 10MM in higher cap dollars, there should be enough to do what we need done.

As long as no one is looking to break the bank and be unreasonale, I think we will keeep and resign our own and be in great shape. Bettors should back the Pats for SB XLI as soon as the odds are listed following the Superbowl.

Welker83

Givens is not a "big" receiver at 6', he is however a very good one.


I have been talking to a Friend of mine who is an Agent and he has said that the talks are not going that well, but that as the pressure comes down to get it done he feels it should not be a problem. Until the owners figure out their revenue sharing system there will be no progress on the negotiations with the players union. Luckily he said that both sides know a strike would be in their worst interests...

mgteich

The free agents WILL be looking to "breaking the bank" It is their turn to get a their piece of the larger pie. We will NOT get better and more free agents because everyone has more money to spend. The price will simply go up. Those teams in cap trouble will be helped the most.

BelichickFan

Givens is a very big WR, he's just not a hugely tall WR. His build is as big as almost any WR in the league. Height, though, is just a touch over average.