Cut off your nose to spite your face

[Bobs My Uncle]

I don't think anyone expects that BB and company can see into the future. But they should be held accountable for their actions if those actions, inactions as the case may be, come back to bite them in the arse.

GM's like BB are in positions to constantly make personnel decisions based on unknowns and/or uncertainties. They get paid very big bucks to ensure that they cover all of their bases in doing so so that they aren't left in a bind because of some unforeseen circumstance (like an unreasonable player agent causing them grief). If they don't they have failed to their job properly. I have fired countless employees for failing to make the proper decisions based on unknowns. I'm not saying BB should be fired here, just pointing out that if this team goes into the season with Caldwell and whomever at WR and it's the root cause for the Pats failure to win another SB then I would hope that people in here would lambast BB because of it and have the decency to not question fans intelligence or allegiance to the team if they did so themselves. I would also hope that people in here are open minded enough to realize that other people around these parts might not assume that just because BB has had very good fortune to turn all into gold a few times it doesn't automatically mean he'll turn it to platinum this time around.

 

[363839]

OK, Chicken Little, you clearly don't know what you are talking about in any of these cases.

1) They chose not to sign Woody because he wanted too much money. And, since you have forgotten, Woody had weight issues that he couldn't bring under control. It had NOTHING to do with Andruzzi.

2) We couldn't re-sign AV and McGinest because they wanted too much money. The Patriots attempted to negotiate with them, but they wanted the money. It had nothing to do with Seymour and Branch.

3) Givens chose not to re-sign with the Patriots. He turned down several offers from the Pats. It had nothing to do with signing anyone else.

4) The Patriots can't sign Branch because he is an egotistical liar who thinks that his success had nothing to do with the rest of the team. He believes that he is an ELITE #1 receiver, when, at best he is a good #2 receiver who has been pressed into #1 duty. Its Branch's greed and his moron agent that is keeping him from being on the Patriots. Not the Patriots. Or do you think that the 5 year/$31 million offer with $11 million bonus isn't good enough? That is the offer that Branch turned down. As well as the 3 year contract extension the Pats offered.

People who sit there and blame this all on the management of the Patriots really don't have a clue as to the business side of the NFL and how the Patriots obviously approach things.

Agreed, Dabruinz. Except I think Branch is the moron and the agent is greedy.

 

[363839]

If I had to choose between keeping either Branch, Koppen, or Samuel, I would pick Branch.

So the general thought is don't overspend on Branch, which I agree with, but since there's not very much talent out there in FA at WR then just stick put with what we have. That sucks IMO. Hopefully we can get a decent WR in return for Deion, the prick.

Well. Out of that list it's a slam dunk.
But you didn't include Graham. I don't know if that was an oversight on your part,
but a case could be made that Graham has as much value to the team as Branch.

 

[363839]

You guys with the concern for the wide reciever situation should step back and take a look at the bigger picture.
Sure, the WR position is less than ideal and we can pretty much not count on Branch being with the team.
We do have potential for an outstanding running game with the arrival of Maroney and a healthy Cory.
Our O line is solidifying nicely and we have 2, maybe 3, maybe 4 good to great tight ends. We have good pass
catchers at tailback. And a great playmaker in Kevin Faulk.
We have Tom Brady at QB.
Tom will do what he always does. Throw the ball to the open reciever.
He will find an open reciever, too.
Childress and aldwell will get some catches. Be sure of it.
And don't forget Troy Browns playmaking potential. We know what he's done in the past.
He continues to play well as we have seen in the last game.
Lastly, don't totally discount Chad Jackson. He just might turn out awesome for all we know.

So chill out, dudes.
We're gonna have a great team this year.

 

[jimmyjames]

To each his own but I'm spoiled and want a SB win not just a competitve team. It would be a damn shame that this Sb ready team suffers added losses this year which knocks them out of SB contention because they errored in securing the WR spot adequately.

BTW. I have no problem giving the Pats braintrust the benefit of the doubt. But don't think for a second that winning those 3 SB's automatically means that the Pats braintrust can't be wrong.

I think you may have missed my point. The Patriots have an opportunity to win many more Super Bowls with the current mentality towards player value than if they set a precedent with Branch of giving in to hold-outs and overpaying people.

Of course the FO can be wrong, and they are is some cases, but not winning the super bowl does not equal error in this situation.

 

[CrazyDave]

Yes i know know we cant overpay for players, But c'mon now, it seems some fans would rather end the season season with the most cap space then get talent to win a SB. We still have red zone problems, and despite a solid performance from the offense thus far, it wasnt exactly against world beaters. Childress and Caldwell wont set the world on fire. What is this cap space for. i remember hearing Jonathan kraft 2 weeks ago saying how the Pats were not that thrilled with the salary cap boost but they agreed for labor peace. Is it maybe that the Krafts feel spending 20 million more then they did last year too much. When does it end. I though we were not signing Givens because we had to sign branch, now branch may be headed out of town. if they are not paying Free agents and not paying their own, the franchise better keep winning or the perception around the league will quickly become negative.

So are you saying that just because we have the money, we should just give it to him?
Even though he's already turned down an offer that was more than fair?
He called it insulting I believe.
It seems to me they are "paying their own".
Everyone on the team is getting paid.
Well, everyone but Branch. But he's not with the team at this point, is he?
I don't get where you're going with this thread.
Perhaps it is Branch who has cut off his own nose, no?

 

[Seymour93]

Well. Out of that list it's a slam dunk.
But you didn't include Graham. I don't know if that was an oversight on your part,
but a case could be made that Graham has as much value to the team as Branch.

Leaving Graham out was intentional on my part. I'd still rather have Branch over the other two though.