Branch may not need to play this year
 

Reading some of the nflpa legal stuff that Fungi linked to a few days ago I found this:

ARTICLE XIX Top

VETERAN FREE AGENCY

Section 1. Unrestricted Free Agents:

(a) Subject to the provisions of Article XX (Franchise and Transition Players), any player with five or more Accrued Seasons, or with four or more Accrued Seasons in any Capped Year, shall, at the expiration of his Player Contract, become an Unrestricted Free Agent. Such player shall be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with any Club, and any Club shall be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with such player, without penalty or restriction, including, but not limited to, Draft Choice Compensation between Clubs or First Refusal Rights of any kind, subject to the signing period set forth below.

Since he has played in 4 capped years he'd be free when his contract expires, which I guess is a specific date rather than " five years". I'm an engineer , not a lawyer, an am not looking at specific legal documents, so don't panic. Let's hope it resolves amicably in the next few hours.

Regardless of what happens, we all should be thankful for the great team we have to support. My son-in-law (a Raven fan) had tickets for last night's game with the Redskins. (Yawn. 40 cheerleders. yawn) Neither team gives a tenth of the promise for an exciting fall that the Pats do.

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

If he doesn't play this year, his contract doesn't expire. He owes the Patriots another year of service.

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

I believe the issue is that he is under contract for a 5th season with the Pats. That doesnt mean 2006, it means the 5th season he plays. In other words if he stays away he never completed the 5th year of the contract, and 2007 becomes the 5th year.,

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

The little weasel's rookie contract does not expire until he has five accrued seasons with the team. If he holds out for the entirety of this season, he would not be credited with an accrued season and, therefore, would remain under contract with the Patriots for another year.

As a practical matter, NFL players only have "x" number of years in the tank. Sitting out a season costs a player one of those years. That's money they will never see. Figure the little weasel has six more seasons to earn a footbally paycheck. Does he really want to give up one of those?

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

Excellent post. I was researching some of that myself. The new CBA favors the players in so many ways. For those who expect the team to "deactivate" Branch if he decides to sit out, it's not that simple. The TO decision has been reversed. Here's the exact wording from the CBA extension:

The Patriots do have options though - one of them is to recoup all of the money in fines owed them.

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

I thought we could put him on a "Inactive/Did not report" type list. What Branch is doing is different from TO. TO was told "Don't bother showing up" Branch is sitting at home breaking his contract, so wouldn't it be two different situations.

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

That's a good question. Ultimately, Branch would need to report by week 10 in order to accrue a 5th season. At that point the Patriots could only suspend him for 4 games. After that they'd have to pay him or release him.

Bottom line, the Pats cannot deactivate Branch like Tampa did to Keyshawn a couple of years ago.

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

Keyshawn was being paid the entire time. The Pats would pay Branch, in accordance with the CBA, but would find a way to keep him off the field.

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

What is the upside of that?
I can timagine this will come to Branch walking in the door week 10, but if he does, and he is one of your best 53 players, you play him rather than paying him and making him sit on his @ss because you are mad. Winning trumps feelings and ego.

Re: Branch may not need to play this year
 

Well you can pay a guy to be a cancer in the locker room, on the practice field, and who knows what kind of effort your going to get from him, or you can pay him not to be and do whatever we did from week's 1-10 at WR.

Locker room chemistry trumps a talented malcontent.