Deion Branch and the franchise tag....what if

[MagicMarker]

Remember when Branch's agent said he would have reported and played under his current contract if the Patriots would have promised NOT to put the franchise tag on him. Of course, they wouldn't do that for somebody already under contract, but I got to thinking, would we have put the franchise tag on him? Should that really have been a concern for his agent.

The franchise amount for 2007 on a wide receiver is $7.6 million. I don't think there is any way Branch would have been franchised.

On the other hand, would the Patriots record have been any different if he were here? I doubt that as well.

 

[BelichickFan]

Well the Patriots did the right thing by not going for it. Even forgetting Graham for now, we'd have Samuel and Branch and could only tag Samuel so we'd have had one season of Branch vs. a first round pick. Who knows if Branch would have made the difference. No way to know. We might have lost to SD, everything would have been different. Or we may have won the SB. But a #1 pick vs. one year of a good but not pro bowl WR is an easy choice.

What should Branch have done ? Well he got his money so I imagine he's fine with it.

 

[JoeSixPat]

We were one play away from going to the SB. Would Branch, over the course of the year had made a difference - perhaps giving us a bye or homefield or one extra play in the Indy game.

Sure, probably. But so too could you pick any number of "one plays" in the Indy game alone.

So its pretty tough to second guess the Branch decision or hang your head too low after this season.

As far as paying Branch or anyone a top salary in the $7-$8 million range as a franchise player, keep in mind that for a one year commitment, its often worth it.

Whether its worth it to commit that in terms of a signing bonus over multiple years is a different question entirely, but if its Sameul this year or questioning whether it would be worth it for Branch, given the low risk for the team, my answer would be that, yes, it is worth it.