Belichick to ESPN this morning: "We will not trade Graham this year. End of story."

[JoeSixPat]

Re-read the article:

"We have not had a single discussion about trading Daniel Graham," Belichick told ESPN.com Thursday morning.

Replying to an offer, even in the negative, is still discussing it. Just ask Ty law and the Postons

Actually, re-read the Herald article, as I think that's what he was referencing:

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=143808

"According to a league source, the Broncos approached the Patriots with such a proposal, but the Pats said no thanks."

 

[spacecrime]

Actually, re-read the Herald article, as I think that's what he was referencing:

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=143808

Ha ha ha. On one hand I have a direct quote by Bill Belichick that there were no discussions. On the other hand, the Herald uses one of their famous unnamed sources to say Belichick did have a discussion.

Now, let's see. Which one am I going to believe?

 

[BelichickFan]

Ha ha ha. On one hand I have a direct quote by Bill Belichick that there were no discussions. On the other hand, the Herald uses one of their famous unnamed sources to say Belichick did have a discussion.

Now, let's see. Which one am I going to believe?

Belichick may consider "no thanks" to be a response but not a discussion

 

[wrangler]

I think BB's public statement of no trade for Lelie also sent a message of other
sorts.?

DG is here for '06 and DB will be our #1 WR this season.

Building team chemistry takes on many looks.??

 

[PatsFanInVa]

This Year means This Year

I think BB says "this year" for obvious reasons...

1, 1.5% of what he said: next year they gotta talk turkey, for starters, given Graham's contract. Not bad for Graham to get a little nudge toward the well-known "contract year effect." You get to motivate without even talkin' to the guy.

2, .5% of what he said: in (1) above, BB is defining the landscape to the potential FA - we could trade you, effectively selling the rights to negotiate your new deal, unless we view you as indispensable. It's cheaper to trade these days... bear in mind, that option will be on the table.

3, or 98% of what BB said: We're not trading him so shut the %#@$% up about it already.

PFnV

 

[rookBoston]

The idea that we would be looking to trade Graham is far-fetched in the first place. I'm convinced some draftnik who doesn't follow the Pats saw BB land two rookie TEs at a position where we already have two good ones and concluded that we were looking to make a change. Wrong. That's just BB building out his depth chart. Same reason he drafted an elite RB with a great RB already on the roster.

The only thing more ridiculous is the idea that the Pats would do it for Leslie. One of the papers called him a "one trick pony"-- which is appropriate-- and you could hardly come up with a more damning phrase for a Belichick receiver.

I never believed it. If the rumors had been about Ed Reed, Eric Moulds or someone who seem fits the Pats profile more closely... well, then I might have thought about it a little differently.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Ha ha ha. On one hand I have a direct quote by Bill Belichick that there were no discussions. On the other hand, the Herald uses one of their famous unnamed sources to say Belichick did have a discussion.

Now, let's see. Which one am I going to believe?

Yes... you can take everything BB says literally... he'd never make a statement stretching the truth if he felt it could help his team.

BB's famous for that degree of honesty with the media - especially his injury reports!

You're too funny!

I think my original feeling about this rumor was probably the correct one. The Broncos want to trade Lelie. Lelie's been on the market since draft day. No one has been interested. People have forgotten about Lelie.

The Broncos started this trade rumor with the Denver Post to get Lelie's name in the headlines again, and make other GMs think there was some degree of interest in him... and that a team like the Patriots would actually see enough value in Lelie to offer a player AND a draft pick.