Globe writer (Solomon) says Branch deal will get done...

[SeanBruschi54]

Link

1. Deion Branch. Maybe he's saving up his carryover minutes, but the usually accessible Branch has not been taking or returning calls from the media this offseason. Will he make an appearance this week? It's about time for him to come out and admit that he is dissatisfied with the progress (or lack thereof) of his contract negotiations.

Hint: The forthcoming posturing by both sides, which we are obligated to chronicle over the next six weeks, eventually will be rendered meaningless. A deal will get done and Branch will come to training camp (maybe after a short holdout) and say how happy he is that he is remaining a Patriot.

I wont say a word until i see it on paper.

 

[BionicPatriot]

Thats sounds more like the writer's opinion than anything else.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

That is exactly what it is - his opinion that this is basically 'is what it is' and it will all get hashed out in the end - and I hope he is right. I'm confident either way that he will be in camp even if late because frankly he has no choice. He is under contract for 2006 and if he doesn't re-sign here he will need to finally put up that thousand plus yard season to get more than what the team is likely offering in FA next March.

 

[BelichickFan]

Thats sounds more like the writer's opinion than anything else.

Yeah, that doesn't sound like it has any basis in fact. Just a little crystal ball article.

 

[Pats726]

Opinion..but isn't it better to have a positive one than all the negatives??

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Not really - opinions don't matter. And after reading Jerome's whole article I'd characterize it as more flippant off the cuff filler than positive or negative or for that matter informative. It says as usual in this kind of around the league peice that others contributed...I think he was channeling Borges from the next cubicle.

 

[patsox23]

The more time I spend on sites like this one, the more I realize how the ONLY thing many in the media have over some good writers here is ACCESS. IF the Globe hired me tomorrow and I got credentialed, I would be their best football writer. I'm just a screenwriter in LA, but setting aside Curran and Reiss (Tomase's okay, too), I and many others here are better sportswriters than the trash we see on-line EVERY DAY. I mean, while that is, I guess, a perfectly fine article, the vast majority of posters could have, and probably have, written something comparable in the last year.

 

[BionicPatriot]

Opinion..but isn't it better to have a positive one than all the negatives??

Well, reading the title of the thred I thought the article would read that a writer KNEW Branch would be gettin re-signed. Sorry to be negative, I'm just so frustrated at the whole situation.

I know, as we all do, Branch will suit up this season. I DON'T want to go into next season with him as a FA. Because 1) He'll leave. There's no question to it. He'll either leave due to principle, or some team will way overpay for him. 2) I don't wanna create another void in our WR depth. You take Branch away, and who the hell do we have next year?

 

[BelichickFan]

You take Branch away, and who the hell do we have next year?

Right now it's questionable - 12 months from now Jackson and Caldwell could be a good pair. It's the offseason and time to be optimistic

 

[Pats726]

Right now it's questionable - 12 months from now Jackson and Caldwell could be a good pair. It's the offseason and time to be optimistic

I agree optimism should be the case, but I also think there are gambles Branch is taking by waiting...and maybe he's ready to take a deal and not let injuries or an off year put a damper on things.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Well, reading the title of the thred I thought the article would read that a writer KNEW Branch would be gettin re-signed. Sorry to be negative, I'm just so frustrated at the whole situation.

I know, as we all do, Branch will suit up this season. I DON'T want to go into next season with him as a FA. Because 1) He'll leave. There's no question to it. He'll either leave due to principle, or some team will way overpay for him. 2) I don't wanna create another void in our WR depth. You take Branch away, and who the hell do we have next year?

Somebody else at WR. There are a handful of players we can barely live without. Those are pretty much the core players. Deion is not a core player, although I think he could become one if he re-signs and manages to remain the #1 or #2 WR on this team for several years as Troy Brown did. But he may not, and that will not be the end of the world as we know it. They will draft or sign other WR's in 2007 and between them and the existing corps someone will emerge as #1 as Deion did - possibly even without topping a thousand yards in 4 years. And of course there is always the option of franchising Deion if he has a very good 2006 because the cost of having him on the team from 2006-2007 via tag would only average about $4M per year, probably just about what he is/was worth over that 2 year period. So he doesn't just leave unless we let him, and if that happens BB will probably have had a reason.

Last season Seattle wouldn't have made it to the superbowl given their dropsie prone WR struggles if not for a journeyman WR named Joe Jurevicius they signed who had to fight for a spot in camp and ended up producing in 12 games well within the range of our #1 incumbant over a similar stretch. The Arizona Cardinals found a player in the second round in 2003 who would have replaced the #1 here in a heartbeat as a rookie if both were on this team. This is a big part of what GM's are hired to do, find talent to add to or replace existing talent every season. It's part of their job and part of the business of football. Some players stay and some move on. Yet we play and more often than not we win so.....