branch traded

[italian pat patriot]

wow !!!

a FIRST round pick !!!

beautiful news !!!

i'm very satisfied !

Go Pats !!!!!

and finally this story is finished...let's focus on the season !

 

[mgcolby]

Who in your WR's is better then Branch??? Do you guy's think this will hurt at all??? There has to come a point were your loses can't be overcome.

Go through our starting roster and see how many of them weren't drafted by New England. If you draft well and plan for most situations it works out in the end. Think about this, the Patriots won 3 superbowls since 2001 and have gotten younger each season. So having two #1's next year will definitly yield at least one starter or a big contributor to next years team (barring injury) with the possibilty of two. Look at our first round picks and their first year contributions since BB/Pioli took over.

2001 Seymour
2002 Graham
2003 Warren
2004 Wilfork/Watson
2005 Mankins
2006 Maroney

So forgive me for feeling good about our first round next year!



And a side note to all of this: does anyone else feel or expect him to get injured relatively quickly? It seems to be a trend for holdouts. Watson, Walker, Winslow and bunch of others not rooting for it but I wouldn't be shocked.

 

[Patjew]

I think I'm one of the few that's bummed out about this. Not that the Pats did anything wrong or it won't work out well in the end, but I loved Deion and I'll miss him. I liked his swagger and shiftiness during games and humility after them. Brady must feel a bit strange not having his 1a and 1b out there anymore.

Don't jump all over me, I'm not saying the Pats are mortally wounded or anything. I'm just... bummed.

And you can jump all over me for this if you want, but... Good luck, Deion. Thanks for everything up until the last few months.

 

[PromisedLand]

Yikes, you're gone for two hours and a story breaks and over 120 people post about it before you even have a chance to! I think I'll just give up eating, sleeping, working and my family so I can be on PatsFans.com 24/7!

Well there is probably little left to say that hasn't already been said so I'll just post my personal opinions and feelings about this.

1. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. The Pats have taken a negative and turned it into a positive. It was an ugly situation that wasn't going to get better except by acquiescing to the demands of a player under contract, which would set a bad precedent. Even trading him is relinqishing to some extent but at least he is gone and we got well compensated.

2. I am happy with a first round pick - that gives you a good chance to get a very good player tied up for 5 or 6 years at relatively low cost. There is a good chance that player will make a solid contribution to the team for at least 3 or 4 of those years. In exchange for this you gave up the rights for only one year to the services of a good but not great, malcontented player.

3. Having said that, I was hoping to get a high draft pick as well as a player who could help fill some of the void left by Leion's absense THIS year. But you can't have everything; where would you keep it?

4. Now we need to hope that at least one Doug Gabriel and/or Chad Jackson step up very soon. My guess is that BB/SP would have tried harder (i.e. offered more) to work things out with Leion if they did not believe that was about to happen.

 

[brady2brown]

For those who questioned those of us who were saying that Chayut was doing a brilliant job of representing his client ...... you were wrong.

Actually I thought you were saying the Pats screwed up, not that Chayut was brilliant. Feel free to post a link to remind me.

Deion got out of town, and a few mil more, but I don't hink he'll be better off. Either way, I don't think Chayut was brilliant.

But good boy. Have a biscuit.

 

[desi-patsfan]

I didnt read thru all the posts but..

i saw this on a seattle website...is this correct?

The Seahawks fashioned a contract agreement with Branch before the season, agreeing to a six-year, $39 million deal that would have paid him $13 million in combined bonuses and about $23 million in the first three years of the contract.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

I didnt read thru all the posts but..

i saw this on a seattle website...is this correct?

The Seahawks fashioned a contract agreement with Branch before the season, agreeing to a six-year, $39 million deal that would have paid him $13 million in combined bonuses and about $23 million in the first three years of the contract.

That matches previous reports on the package, at this point my interest is focused in how many games Seattle can put in the loss column.

 

[fnordcircle]

Deion got out of town, and a few mil more, but I don't hink he'll be better off. Either way, I don't think Chayut was brilliant.

Don't be ******ed. Chayut was doing his job trying to get his player the money they both thought he deserved. They got that. Deion is a richer man today because of Chayut getting him a new deal instead of just settling for the contract extension the Patriots offered.

Chayut did his job, it's obvious that money was more important than winning a SB to Deion (evidenced by the fact they entertained the Jets offer) so how is he not better off?

I don't blame the Patriots, they don't get the sort of production from a #1 WR in this offense that warrants a deal like Branch wanted. I don't blame Branch because he wanted, and got, a deal commensurate with his potential production in an offense which doesn't spread the ball around like the Pats.

 

[desi-patsfan]

That matches previous reports on the package, at this point my interest is focused in how many games Seattle can put in the loss column.

Oh trust me, 1 hour ago i couldnt care less what seattle did. Infact they were going to be my NFC SB pick. Now i hope they go 1 and 15. I know the chances of that happening are very very slim but i can still dream about having a top 5 pick.

 

[TruthSeeker]

wow....we got more for Deion than SG got for T.O.
BB & Pioli are geniuses.

 

[Clonamery]

at this point my interest is focused in how many games Seattle can put in the loss column.

(Hope you don't mind but.....) Ditto.

 

[SamBam39]

well, it's definately sad and disappointing that all this ever had to happen.
I mean Brady absolutely loved deion branch and he was quick, sure-handed, elusive, a great route runner, and extremely clutch.

it will take a painful while for all that to be replaced.

however, we absolutely can expect Gabriel and Jackson to be brought along quickly and hopefully they will begin to replace Givens and Branch well enough soon, that we can all feel confident about our chances of another world championship.

unfortunately, at this point, this was the best outcome we all could've hoped for anymore. He wasn't coming back, so really, we needed to move on. Getting a first was great.

I don't see other players thinking this was all worth it and others repeating Deion's behavior. Just the opposite. I think they saw a very long, difficult situation that none of them want to go through. No worries.

The reason BB/Pioli demanded a 1st round pick, even though they weren't willing to pay him like one just yet, is because they had leverage - they had the ability to franchise him - the compensation for that is 2 first rounders.
That's why deion said he'd come back if they promised not to franchise him - That's how big of a deal that leverage was. The pats knew this and got a great draft pick. they don't have to overpay anyone. now their theory that anyone can be replaced is tested yet again - just like it has been time and time again, and so far, they have always been fine.
Think of all the really good players we've lost and it's been scary to see go...
there's been so many of them over the past few years...
but we keep replacing them, and we will branch and givens as well.
hell, branch and givens replaced glenn and others...
it's not gonna derail the train folks. BB and company coached branch up, and they'll do the same with the next replacement. remember, the experts laughed at us when we selected him in the 2nd round.
the experts have not ever, don't have now, and won't ever have a clue about what BB is actually doing. that's why they pick manning every year to win. they still can't see it. it won't be long before we're hoisting another lombardi.
we'll all laugh about how worried we were when we lost branch. this is gonna get to the point we're we completely stop worrying about losing anybody.
you'll see. give it a little time.
jackson and gabriel are very highly thought of receivers.
BB will have them humming in the offense soon.
ya know, it wouldn't surprise me at all to know that BB saw the possibility of a branch holdout coming before he drafted jackson. they probably had negotiated with him for an extenstion and gotten a feel he might be trouble down the road. but even if not, he's fully prepared to deal with it and move on successfully.
I see us drafting linebackers, wideouts and corners over the next couple of years and being ridiculously loaded!

 

[PromisedLand]

wow....we got more for Deion than SG got for T.O.
BB & Pioli are geniuses.

Come off it. Leion may not be as talented as T.O. but he also doesn't have a history of destroying teams.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

I really thought, underneath it all, that they'd work it out. That really sucks, IMO. :/ Branch, what happened to you?

I've blamed Chayut for this for too long. Even the week before the season, I thought that Branch, in his own mind, wanted to get back with the Pats, and wouldn't really leave Brady and go elsewhere.

I gave that douchebag the benefit of the doubt until the season began.

This is just the final straw. He is SOOOOOOOO DEAD TO ME!

Who the heck would have EVER thought that Branch turned out to be the worst motherf#cker that we EVER dealt with in the Belichick era?

 

[brady2brown]

So Basically, the Pats will never take a step backwards and will do things that the Cowboys, Steelers and 49ers have never been able to do which is maintaine a championship level, because your front office is not capapble of making a mistake and will always, no matter the situation come out on top of every deal?!?!?!

No, they took a step backward in 2002. No one is saying it is mistake proof. What you are saying it that it is impoosible to stay competitive year after year and that losses will eventually catch up, and that is what people are disagreeing with.

The losses don't have to catch up. Talk about losses. How many players in the 2001 superbowl were still around in the 2004 superbowl. I'll be we lost over 2/3 of the team. ANd still won. That is what you don't understand, that you can lose a third of your team every year and remain competitive as long as you do a few things. one is to not overpay any player. You need the money to keep competitive. Another is to let a player go a year early to avoid keeping him a year too long.

No one is going to win the superbowl every year. But by keeping only players with value (and at 7 mil a year Branch wasn't value) you can remain cometitive. Even in 2002, we were tied for Division winner, losing on the third tiebreaker.

the loses have to take their toll eventually, it's the law of averages!!!

Should have studied in school. Law of averages do not accumlate and "catch up." If you filp a penny one hundred times and it comes out heads every time, the law of averages does NOT say it is due to come out tails. If you flip one hundred heads in a row, the odds of flipping a head on the 101th flip is 50-50, one chance out of two. The odds of flipping a head is always 50-50. Doesn't matter what happened before.

If you don't mind my saying so, you sound bitter and whiny. Perhaps you should stop worrying about Patriots fans and worry about Culpepper. And worry about what the Bills D will do to your anemic offense.

 

[the taildragger]

morale:

We need to learn from this and get MUCH better in dealing with holdouts. Players are out to get paid...particularly guys who play WR and have only one legit career opportunity to cash in...QBs and DLs have much longer primes.

Lesson #1: The first offer should not be the final offer!!! This is not rocket science.

You determine a player's value to your team and start off with a lowball offer...when it's rejected, you then return with a compromise that is right in line with the level at which you intend to sign him.

The creativity our FO is known for was totally lacking throughout this process...I am a major kool aid drinker (see: avatar) but am not blind to this fact.

Now we're left with a ton of unused cap space and a FUTURE benefit, which when discounted to the present, is far less than the guaranteed first round value that Deion would represent if drafted today.

I guess I don't understand all the celebration here...I've never been one who thought we NEEDED him (if you've won a SB w/o him that ends the argument), but let's not pretend we wouldn't have been better off WITH him.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

That matches previous reports on the package, at this point my interest is focused in how many games Seattle can put in the loss column.

Double Dare Ditto!!!

 

[Jacky Roberts]

Lesson #1: The first offer should not be the final offer!!! This is not rocket science.

I thought Branch refused to make a counteroffer to Belichick's initial offer?

 

[Pats726]

Lesson #1: The first offer should not be the final offer!!! This is not rocket science.

Huh??? Who said the first offer WAS the final offer?? When a player does NOT want to be here and REFUESES to negotiate..what does a team do??

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

So Basically, the Pats will never take a step backwards and will do things that the Cowboys, Steelers and 49ers have never been able to do which is maintaine a championship level, because your front office is not capapble of making a mistake and will always, no matter the situation come out on top of every deal?!?!?!

I somehow find it difficult to believe that just becuse the system the Pats use has been a strong one, it's mistake proof. I find it hard to believe that the only two people needed to maintain a SB caliber team is BB and Tom Brady. I think it's been quite a run for the Pats and they have proven to make some great strides given the loses they've sustained over the last 5 seasons, however luck has played more then a little roll in your success and while the strength of your front office is obvious, it's not the only reason for the success.

There comes a point where the ball doesn't bounce your way anymore and players don't step up. Is that this year??? Who knows, but the loses have to take their toll eventually, it's the law of averages!!! Branch was your SB MVP in 04 and there is a reason he was the SB MVP!! Sure Brady throws the ball, but Brdy doesn't run the route, catch the ball or get the YAC yards!! You Pat fans love to give Brady credit, but he doesn't do everything. You can throw the ball perfectly as a QB but you can't make the WR avoid tackles or jams at the LOS. I know Pat fans have grown accustom to winning no matter who is on the field, but to stay on top forever just isn't gonna happen.

So Basically, the Pats will never take a step backwards (sic) and will do things that the Cowboys, Steelers and 49ers have never been able to do which is maintaine (sic) a championship level, because your front office is not capapble (sic) of making a mistake and will always, no matter the situation come out on top of every deal?!?!?!

Yes, you're starting to understand the process! Good for you!

I somehow find it difficult to believe that just becuse (sic) the system the Pats use has been a strong one, it's mistake proof.

It's not mistake-proof. But it is designed to minimize mistakes.

I find it hard to believe that the only two people needed to maintain a SB caliber team is BB and Tom Brady.

No, you need spear carriers, too, in addition to the Generals. That's another concept you might have trouble with....

I think it's been quite a run for the Pats and they have proven to make some great strides given the loses they've sustained over the last 5 seasons, however luck has played more then a little roll in your success and while the strength of your front office is obvious, it's not the only reason for the success.

Luck is the residue of design. Over the years, when comparing and contrasting the Pats' front office and the Miami front office, it's obvious seeing the differences in management style. I agree, winning a championship does require a little something more than raw physical talent, but when you win consistently and regularly challenge for the top, you have to admit something more than "luck" is involved.

There comes a point where the ball doesn't bounce your way anymore and players don't step up.

I'm not altogether knowledgeable on this phenomena. Perhaps you can offer insight on this?

Is that this year??? Who knows, but the loses have to take their toll eventually, it's the law of averages!!!

Ahhh, the law of averages! The last refuge of the mathematically illiterate!

I will tell you, during the '90's, Pittsburgh was perennially a contender despite huge losses to free agency every year. They managed to stay around the top because they knew how to manage. That was (is) a well-managed team that stayed right on top of every aspect of the game. Given your logic, shouldn't the "law of averages" caught up with that team?

Branch was your SB MVP in 04 and there is a reason he was the SB MVP!!

Yes, it was apparently decided someone else should win the MVP for that game (the Super Bowl)!

Sure Brady throws the ball, but Brdy (sic) doesn't run the route, catch the ball or get the YAC yards!! You Pat fans love to give Brady credit, but he doesn't do everything. You can throw the ball perfectly as a QB but you can't make the WR avoid tackles or jams at the LOS.

No, one man can't do everything. But make no mistake - this is Brady's team, and he runs it!

I know Pat fans have grown accustom (sic) to winning no matter who is on the field, but to stay on top forever just isn't gonna happen.

No, we don't expect to stay on top "forever". No one here is that naive. There's a real good chance things will change when Kraft, Pioli and Belichik all pass fro the scene! 'Course, by that time I'll probably have passed from the scene, too!

Thanks for the input. It's always gratifying to see fans of other teams aspiring to see their teams be like us!