How long is the Pat's offer left on the table?

[GoWesleyan]

"Then you haven't been paying attention. Especially since the Broncos just traded Lelie under an agreement that stipulates he will pay all of his fines and forfeit one-fifth of his signing bonus for loss of that year's services."

You're right, I haven't been. A thousand pardons. Was the Lelie situation the same thing though? He had to pay all this stuff back in order for the trade to get done... That seems different to me. If Lelie wants the trade, the Broncs have leverage to collect or set whatever terms they want. That's not what we're talking about here.

"Whether he feels it or not playing without benefit of football conditioning for 8 or nine months certainly ups his risk of injury."

You might be right, but that's immaterial. I'm interested in empathizing (understanding, defining) DEION's thinking to gain understanding of the negotiation. Negotiation 101 (not that I'm any good at it yet says that by understanding what the otherside believes and knowing what they want, you have a better chance of finding mutually acceptable solutions.

"The tag will be based on the top 5 WR's salaries plus prorated bonus. Pending any further signings we as the year unfolds we won't know what that number will be until January. This year it is just over $6M. It will likely increase to in excess of $7M. If he signed either of the deals he was offered he would have pocketed between $10-13M by the time he takes the field in 2007. Playing under a tag he would risk career ending injury for millions less. And had he signed the 3 year deal he was implicitly guaranteed he would see $20M in the next 4 years. Not only because the $10M in hand by 2007 represents that implicit guarantee, but because the Kraft's are well known for taking care of their injured players even at the expense of their cap. Just ask Tedy or TJ (who was allowed to retain his signing bonus on retirement even in a year when we were strapped for cap)."

That's pretty compelling stuff, if those numbers are right. I thought the guarantee to Branch was more like $8 million. $7.5 million for franchise and then FA the next year sounds like a good option if the alternative is $8 million and a 3 year contract where you are undervalued by $5 million. But if the numbers were $7.5 vs $10 instead of $7.5 vs $8, it's a different story. So if your telling me that the numbers on the offer are $10-$13 guaranteed, then I have a harder time understanding Branch's position... Maybe he and his agent are confident that they could come back to those offers with no repercussions, so they saw little downside.

I don't buy that contract is more or less guaranteed even if it's not guaranteed - TJ and Bruschi aside. If that's how it was, then the Kraft's would certainly put that in the contract. Since they don't, it's not.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Miguel long ago educated me on the value of the implicit guarantee. Branch would have over $10M in his hand from the 3 year extension the moment the opening kickoff sails in the 2007 season. $8M of that would be bonus money, most of which would likely have been converted from half signing half option to all signing bonus so he would have around $5.6M in dead cap if they cut him or traded him in 2008 and $2.8 in 2009 against roughly $4.5M salaries so they would lose cap space through 2008 and only save less than half his cap in 2009. That is why the media concluded that he would likely see all of the $20 he was due over the next 4 years.

With the 5 year deal and an $11M bonus the numbers just ramp up dead cap wise so it is likely that a player signing that deal sees the first three years of it under most any circumstance.

Had they been willing to actually negotiate the Pat's might well have not only sweetened the total pot a little they would likely have been willing to add incentives (which they did with him to the tune of +$3M in 2002 to get the 5th year - just Deion couldn't break that weak assed 900 yard mark for so long from the sidelines he didn't qualify for much of it) perhaps including additional guarantees based on some minimal (for most #1 WR's) benchmarks like games started or receptions. Chayut didn't want to negotiate up. He wanted Wayne money as the starting point around which a deal was fashioned or he wanted a no tag agreement in exchange for essentially finishing out the contract as it exists. It's pretty apparent he's oddly never been particularly concerned about injury risk or the we'll play it out without the tag counter would never have been made.

And the Pat's under Kraft have a proven track record of standing behind their injured core or long term players who have not screwed with them even though they are under no contractual obligation to. They do it because they are genuinely good people to work for and because as good businessmen they know that the PR fallout of appearing callous if they didn't would not be worth the incremental short term savings.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

What a bizarre and rambling post.

And to answer your question the offer was reportedly pulled off the table when the agent countered with his request that they agree not to tag him if he reported to camp on time.

Apparently the first contact since then has resulted in his being told he and his agent are free to shop him for 1 week to the highest bidder who will also meet the teams compensation requirements (rumored to be a first round draft choice).

I agree on Bizarre. Hpow is anyone suppose to know if the extension is still on the table except for Belichik or someone working for the Pats?

 

[mgteich]

What offer? Does anyone know what the patriots have offered? How would you know? From the press? How would they know? From the patriots? You would believe numbers from the patriots in the middle of negotiations?

And how would anyone know if a supposed offer is on or off the table? If Branch comes back and signs, how would anyone know whether the patriots added a bit more or took some away?

How will we know or the patriots know what conversations take place between Branch, his agent, and other teams. How will we know what is offered to Branch?
-------------------------------------------------

What we know is that the Patriots and Branch have not signed, Branch has been permission to negotiate with other teams, and that the patriots have limited such conversation to one week. We also know the details of the CBA contract and consequences of various actions.

Perhaps the patriots are so sure of the situation that they believe that Branch will talk to other teams, realize that he should come back and sign the patriot deal, crawl back, and be a great player for the pats for the next few years, and be a loyal patriot for the experience.

My personal belief is that Branch is gone until at least Game 10, having little incentive to play until then. I also he has an insurance policy, insuring him against injury, which will cost him less if he only plays 6 games.