JR4

If PATs, as rumored from a few good sources, want two 1st round picks, then
why didn't BB/SP offer Branch a contract worthy of a player worth two
1st round picks?

The only explanation I can come up is they let Branch go find a trade
with no intention of letting him go unless they got absurd compensation.
In other words unless they got an offer they just couldn't refuse.

So if you are Branch and you get an offer for say 6.5M/yr for 6 years but
PATs have made there demands so high no team will go for it,
...... how do you feel?

I would be very very angry. Wouldn't you.
I would think those guys are not just good business men they are rats.
Even if Branch signs with PATs ... I just can't see how he is going to
forget this ... and his attitude in the locker room would suck is my guess.

Hey Branch didn't do right in my book but you expect the guy in the
white hat to be the good guy and have a higher standard.

Help me ... is there anyway to look at this that makes BB/SP look good
or have they good too far in this thing?

PonyExpress

Simple. They are treating Branch as a franchised player. The compensarion for a franchised player is 2 first rd picks. They are willing to pay him as a franchised player: over 6 million a year.

jaychamp

I look at it as the Patriots want what Branch thinks he is worth, not what the Patriots think he is worth. You know, "You think you're this good, let's see if we can get what you think you are worth".

JR4

No one knows if PATs would franchise him next year.
He certainly is not worth two 1st round picks and no one ... even the at PATs ... think he is worth two 1st round picks ... but that is what they
demand ... and that is what seems unfair or hypocritical.

patsfan55

ya im really fed up with the way both parties have handled the situation

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“My favorite ring? I've always said, you know, I always said the next one. The next one is the best,” Brady says.

mcbee

It does seem odd. Give him a taste of freedom and then snatch it away! If they demand 2 #1s, obviously they had no intention of trading him. It's like letting a prisoner peak over the fence at the countryside just to yank him back in.

So now Branch is even more bitter.

Maybe the Jets did it just to screw with them...they know NE would want at least a late round #1 equiv price for him.

Branch does NE no good now...just a distraction.

Jacky Roberts

What I honestly thought would happen was if Branch got a legitimate offer from a team that wasn't trying to screw the Pats (Jets, etc), then BB would tell Branch the contract offered was the best he could get and negotiate down from that. I always thought a Seahawks' offer would be Branch's counteroffer. I guess Chayut wants to shoot for the moon.

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QuiGon

Because they are under no obligation to do so. If you have an employee who is great, and he's under contract for $1,000,000 are you just going to go up to him, pat him on the back and say "here's an extra $20 mil..!!" No, of course you aren't.
They look good by standing up to a greedy WR, and don't fool yourself: This sort of thing will pay INCREDIBLE dividends down the road. Other players are going to know they don't want to ***** with the Pats.

RAWKY

[QUOTE=JR4]If PATs, as rumored from a few good sources, want two 1st round picks, then
why didn't BB/SP offer Branch a contract worthy of a player worth two
1st round picks?

The only explanation I can come up is they let Branch go find a trade
with no intention of letting him go unless they got absurd compensation.
In other words unless they got an offer they just couldn't refuse.

Actually there is another explanation....Branch was refusing to counter the Pat's offers. He was refusing to express his desires or wants or even his needs.When one refuses to talk to you issues can never be resolved.

So the Pat's forced the issues to come out onto the table with their move to allow him to seek a trade.

Yes the Pat's may have wanted two first round picks for him as per a franchised player but that is an asking price ....no one has ever gotten it and no one ever expects to get it....it is a begining stance from which either the team and the player come to agreement or the team decides to trade that player for some lower figure.....

What this move has done is flush out the fact that it is not about the money for if Branch would accept the Jets offer which was not that much more then the Pat's last offer it tells us that BRANCH NO LONGER WANTS TO BE A PATRITOT.

So now we will have to hold him hostage until someone comes up with an offer we will accept.

JR4

All of that is fine and good position. What doesn't make sense is to
make an overture to Branch to Allow him to seek a trade knowing
no trade will take place because your demands are so high no one will
accept. That does not seem right to me.
Better to keep you mouth shut and and let Branch come back in week 10.
This only serves to create more bad feeling between both sides.
It's a circus show and not what you expect from the guy in the white hat.
One could even make a case that it was sort of underhanded.