Jets cleared of tampering with Branch

[Gunnails]

Jets cleared of tampering with Branch

http://www.newsday.com/sports/footb...ports-headlines

BY BOB GLAUBER
Newsday Staff Writer

February 1, 2007, 3:57 PM EST
The Jets have been exonerated of all tampering charges filed by the Patriots over their dealings with wide receiver Deion Branch last September, league sources told Newsday today.

The Patriots had given Branch permission to seek a trade after they had reached an impasse in contract negotiations last summer, and the Jets immediately expressed an interest and worked out a contract agreement pending a trade with the Patriots. The Jets were willing to give up a second-round pick for Branch, a former Super Bowl MVP.

But New England wound up shipping Branch to the Seahawks in exchange for a first-round pick last Sept. 12. Meanwhile, the Patriots filed tampering charges with the league, arguing that any trade discussions were to be strictly between the Patriots and other teams.

The Patriots contended that because Branch's agents, Jason Chayut, Brian Mackler and Alan Herman, were privy to what the Jets were willing to offer in a potential trade, the Patriots' negotiating position had been compromised.

League officials informed both teams on Wednesday that they found no merit to the Patriots' claims.



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Can not say I am suprised about this, did not see this posted aand thought some might be interested. Now we can put all our past differences away.

 

[Seymour93]

Water under the bridge.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Who cares , it did not help or hurt us this past yr.. Its not going to help the Pats play on sunday...

 

[Gunnails]

Who cares , it did not help or hurt us this past yr.. Its not going to help the Pats play on sunday...

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It was kinda a big deal when it all happened, and if the Jets would of been found guilty it would of cost the Jets draft picks.

I am over it, Now Kraft and Bellichick will not hold anything against Mangini any more, so maybe in the future they can work together again.

 

[mgteich]

What didn't hurt us last year? Having Branch, or whether the jets had to give us compensation?

The FO did all it could to sign Branch. I have no regrets. We received great compensation. But make no mistake, if we had Branch available in the last half against Indy, we would have had a MUCH BETTER chance to make it to the Super Bowl. Do you really believe that Tom would have run the ball needing 11 yards in two tries if he had Branch, Brown, Faulk and Graham as his receivers?

I have every confidence that next year both teams will be stronger, and that both teams will build their teams understanding that the two teams will very possibly meet in the playoffs for years to come.

Who cares , it did not help or hurt us this past yr.. Its not going to help the Pats play on sunday...

 

[SeanBruschi54]

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It was kinda a big deal when it all happened, and if the Jets would of been found guilty it would of cost the Jets draft picks.

I am over it, Now Kraft and Bellichick will not hold anything against Mangini any more, so maybe in the future they can work together again.

Think the pariots made a case out of it now so if it happens in the future.

***cough**samuel**cough***

They can go back and say its already happened before.

They probably knew nothing would come of it but will use it in future cases if need be.

 

[Pats726]

True..although the situsation is not the same...and Wilson and???? Who knows what else Mangina may do...

 

[spacecrime]

But make no mistake, if we had Branch available in the last half against Indy, we would have had a MUCH BETTER chance to make it to the Super Bowl.

Yeah, the same way Branch helped us to the Superbowl last year.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

What didn't hurt us last year? Having Branch, or whether the jets had to give us compensation?

The FO did all it could to sign Branch. I have no regrets. We received great compensation. But make no mistake, if we had Branch available in the last half against Indy, we would have had a MUCH BETTER chance to make it to the Super Bowl. Do you really believe that Tom would have run the ball needing 11 yards in two tries if he had Branch, Brown, Faulk and Graham as his receivers?

I have every confidence that next year both teams will be stronger, and that both teams will build their teams understanding that the two teams will very possibly meet in the playoffs for years to come.

Did Branch play defense?? no Would he have caught the 2 passes against Indy that Reche dropped?? Yeah maybee.. But I dont think he would have been the difference in the super bowl... Maybee a little more balance in the running game ... Wait a minute, Not going to do it... Not going to get in a debate about the game, its over good bye.. cant talk about it..

 

[Brady to Brown]

Did Branch play defense?? no Would he have caught the 2 passes against Indy that Reche dropped?? Yeah maybee.. But I dont think he would have been the difference in the super bowl... Maybee a little more balance in the running game ... Wait a minute, Not going to do it... Not going to get in a debate about the game, its over good bye.. cant talk about it..

Here is what I don't understand.....

Last year Branch and Brady were a great QB to WR combo. Branch was Brady's "go to" guy.

Now Branch is not even missed on this team.

Thank God I will never be a blind Patriots fan.

 

[Seymour93]

Yeah, the same way Branch helped us to the Superbowl last year.

Come on. You know why we didn't go to the SB last year. Monty Beisel, Chad Brown, Duane Starks, Michael Stone, etc.. Branch had nothing to do with the failure. Having him against Indy would've helped, but trading him was the only option.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Here is what I don't understand.....

Last year Branch and Brady were a great QB to WR combo. Branch was Brady's "go to" guy.

Now Branch is not even missed on this team.

Thank God I will never be a blind Patriots fan.

Whoa , easy there rook, not saying that Brady missed Branch, he just would not have been the difference in making the super bowl, or winning that game a couple weeks ago... Brady missed him no doubt, and the team mismanged the situation, but they still were succesfull with out him.. They wont make the same mistake this yr..

 

[mgteich]

We had the ball with about 3:30 left with score tied. We had a 3rd and 11 or 12. The defense had been on the field forever and was absolutely fried. If Branch was there, I strongly suspect that Brady would have been more likely to try two passes. After all, if we got a first down, the game was all but over. Brady would have had three tried and true trusted options available: Branch, Brown and Faulk. We didn't have Branch. Josh and Tom had visions of Watson and Caldwell dropping the ball. What was the play call? A run to set up better position for a field goal. The rest is history.

At that point in the game, Josh and Tom judged that the defense was more likely to stop Manning than for the offense to gain 11 yards in two tries. It boils down to that for me. Given the state of the defense at the time, this decision was a very strong statement indeed regarding our receivers. It will be better next year, but next year's playoffs are a ways off.

We even got the ball back with 1:10 to go. Did anyone EXPECT that we would score and win the game? We all certainly had HOPES that we would score. In years past, we would have laughed at how stupid the colts were for scoring so fast, leaving Brady and the offense with over a minute left. In years past, we would have EXPECTED the patriots to drive down the field and at least have a good chance to score at the end. Was anyone surprised at the interception? Branch would have made no difference??????

Yes, I understand that if we had a defense that could defend against Manning for 80 plays and stop him, we would have won. The bottom line for me is that there were three top defense this year. Baltimore and New England failed to stop Manning. We'll see about Chicago on Sunday. We had a GREAT defense this year. No one allowed fewer touchdown passes. Only one team allowed fewer points. I think that we were in the top three in all the red zone defensive stats.

And yes, I understand that we always can always legitimatey blame the refs.

I do not in any way fault the FO for not signing Branch. But his absense did indeed make a difference when it counted, at crunch time. Obviously, we could speculate about what it have meant to have Branch for the entire second half, but I thought that my point would be clearer if I focused on the last three minutes or so.

Did Branch play defense?? no Would he have caught the 2 passes against Indy that Reche dropped?? Yeah maybee.. But I dont think he would have been the difference in the super bowl... Maybee a little more balance in the running game ... Wait a minute, Not going to do it... Not going to get in a debate about the game, its over good bye.. cant talk about it..

 

[DaBruinz]

Did Branch play defense?? no Would he have caught the 2 passes against Indy that Reche dropped?? Yeah maybee.. But I dont think he would have been the difference in the super bowl... Maybee a little more balance in the running game ... Wait a minute, Not going to do it... Not going to get in a debate about the game, its over good bye.. cant talk about it..

1st off, Both Dillon and Faulk were hurt in the 2nd half of the game and I think that Maroney was also nursing an injury.

2ndly, the Offense couldn't stay on the field long enough to give the defense a break. That took a toll on the defense.

3rd, Branch wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference in my honest opinion.

 

[BelichickFan]

There's no point in thinking about what would have happened with Branch. We may have been in the Super Bowl. Or we may have lost to SD. Everything would have been different. He's gone, we have the #24 pick for him. Everything else, who knows.

 

[DarrylS]

No matter the outcome, Branch would not have made that much of a difference except in this surreal, parallel world. OTOH as far as the tampering went, still believe it may have happened, but difficult to figure out. Chayut, his agent, could have had some conversations with a Jet official about parameters or a contract, so Deion knew what the expectations could have been. The conversations could have been with an Tannenbaum underling, so there could be denials from the Jets office.

Tampering is difficult to assess, what is to stop Assante's agent from going to Miami, and speaking with a couple of GM's on the QT to find out what they think his value is?? With the amount of money available, anything is possible and this scenario is probable.