Tom Curran to the rescue...as usual... - New England Patriots Forums

patsox23 · 07-26-2006, 11:31 PM

here is a GREAT column on the Branch situation. He captures it all - the idiocy of a greedy, short-sighted agent; the naivete of a good guy WR; the difference between a FA contract and one being negotiated a year earlier; the total lack of ANY SHOT that this move will work and the idiotic personnel (mis)management of the Indianapolis Colts.

Enjoy - one of the best articles of the off-season:

http://www.projo.com/patriots/conten...h.33b5c61.html

***MoLewisrocks*** · 07-27-2006, 12:28 AM

In the NE media perhaps, but this piece sounds a lot like much of what Patsfans have been saying here for the last few weeks.

And the problem I have with this catchy line:

"Nice move, Jason. Make your client sound like he's an 8-year-old sweatshop employee making 44 cents a week in Thailand. That'll swing public opinion in his favor."

is that blaming the agent for misrepresenting a millionaire client who has been in the NFL for 4 years now after graduating from an acredited university in the good old US of A is making that player sound like he attended college on a specal needs scholarship.

Enough with the absolution, that's just another version of poor Deion.

Deion sure seems like a nice guy, but he's either extremely disingenuous or tragically flawed or incredibly gullible. The agent works for him. Deion can add, he can read, and it may just be at the end of the day he's somewhat egocentric (at common WR trait) as well as greedy (a trait shared by most professional athletes).

***PatsRI*** · 07-27-2006, 03:56 AM

Good article but I feel like Mo does on this one. Deion can get rid of this guy or make him except the offer. Hopefully if Branch is being led around by his agent that he has other family or friends that will talk to him before he starts losing the $14000 a day. If it's Deion's greed then he gets what he deserves.

Pats726 · 07-27-2006, 03:57 AM

Mo is right...many on here have been pointing it all out..but Cuuran does a great job...In contrast there's Borges, Tomase and someone like Greenburg who last night kept talking about how the Patriot's FO would regret it if they
didn't extend and pay HIM. Huh?? I think uf they DID overpay Branch, they may have MORE regret as there would be a line of Patriot players every year wanting more money. But as Greenburg has said..don't pay him and one may have Branch tuen against the team..as if anything Chayut has done HAS NOT been...bad situation and Curran has hit a home run.

***DarrylS*** · 07-27-2006, 04:44 AM

Curran once again proves he is the voice of reason amongst all of the writers, with the exception of Reiss. The deal seems fair, and to not show up for camp is something I do not expect of a player of such great character, dump the agent Deion.

Bostonian1962 · 07-27-2006, 05:18 AM

Good Stuff PatSox23!

You are correct, it was a GREAT article.

rhubma · 07-27-2006, 05:20 AM

Curran is back. This article is his best writing in a LONG time.

3-4 years ago TC was the best... a must read on every column (similar to Bill Simmons). Lately though he has been blah (in fact blah, blah, blah). And IMO Reiss replaced him as number 1 must read. My feelings were that Curran had developed Kevin Mannix disease - thinking about self-promotion rather than the Pats and the fans. Maybe TC is coming back from this dark side to start to shed the light again...

***Miguel*** · 07-27-2006, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoLewisrocks

In the NE media perhaps, but this piece sounds a lot like much of what Patsfans have been saying here for the last few weeks.

Bingo, Curran even repeated this board's myth that the Colts lost 2 defensive starters in free agency this year.

***Clonamery*** · 07-27-2006, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miguel

Bingo, Curran even repeated this board's myth that the Colts lost 2 defensive starters in free agency this year.

True, Triplett only started 4 games. Thornton being the only defensive starter the Colts lost.

sarge · 07-27-2006, 06:37 AM

Real good article.

I too though put more of the blame on Branch as he is a grown man.

This is the part of the article that I think makes the best point of all

Quote:

The truth is, Chayut is railing about an offer that would average close to $6 million per season. That's about the same as this year's franchise number for receivers (somebody exploit me like that).

The franchise number is equal to the salaries of the five highest-paid receivers. I hate to do this because Branch is a terrific receiver, but . . . Marvin Harrison. Chad Johnson. Randy Moss. Steve Smith. Larry Fitzgerald. Anquan Boldin. Torry Holt. There's seven guys better than Branch. There are a few more in his neighborhood.

...
...
To be paid like a free agent you kind of need to be one. If you're coming to the table a year early and asking your team to tear up your deal and give you more money, you ought to understand that you are asking for a favor. You are asking them to ignore a contract that you, the player, signed and, in this case, a contract that Chayut himself negotiated for Branch.