Letting Givens and Branch go - See they told you it would be no problem!!!

[PATRIOT64]

95% of Patriots backers were appauled by the loss of Givens and Branch last year,What happened with that? Well.......
We almost came within a first down of making it back to the SB and likely winning it over the NFC chump Bears,coming close with 2 scrap heap receivers that no one outside of the locker room thought would be able to carry the load that far.

Now BB and FO have the last laugh,We saved HUGE money by letting both receivers go,One had a sub-par year,The other injured and may never be the same for what I hear as Givens injury was a severe one and questions are running rampant throughout Tennessee as to whether he will ever be close to what he was up here...Looks like suckers in Tennessee and Seattle right now...BB and the FO look as if they could sell swampland in NJ to anyone right now and get away with it!.

The money that was freed up gave us the opportunity to sign Adalius and proceed with possible more goodies in FA land,Definately the draft is loaded with wideout talent so the loss of Deion and Givens looks like a steal for us right now.....No way we would have signed a all-pro LB like Adalius for this much money if it was tied up in 2 WR guys that wanted to be overpaid.

All of a sudden the talk of BB losing his touch as a HC are getting quieter by the day.....We probably won't hear a peep from anyone,at least thru the summer questioning his madness,when in fact its genius once again.

All Belichick needs to do now is run for President in 2008 as a second job,Seems smarter than those goofs who are vying right now as candidates,At least he thinks BEFORE the upcoming year approaches and plans ahead to avoid negative situations,more than I can say about any politician as of late.

 

[TomBradyWoot]

Lets give the Thomas signing a chance to work out before we claim victory over everything in sight.

 

[Kdo5]

Seeing as we turned out signing two average recievers and they both showed that they were very solid recievers. It turned out great.

 

[PATRIOT64]

Seeing as we turned out signing two average recievers and they both showed that they were very solid recievers. It turned out great.

'Solid' is a strong word for Caldwell and Gaffney.....Overacheiving and Above Average suits them much better IMO.

Then again Brady makes them above average....Put those 2 wr with Jon Kitna or Harrington ect: and see what a duo they would be,probably not very good.

 

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

I would have died to have at least one of either Branch or Givens in the AFCCG. No way one of those 2 drops that wide open pass.

 

[salty]

Seeing as we turned out signing two average recievers and they both showed that they were very solid recievers. It turned out great.

Gaffney is good. Caldwell did very well, but IMO, he was never intended to be a starter here, and it would be a hell of a lot better if he wasn't next season.

 

[Fencer]

If one of Givens or Branch had stayed and stayed healthy, the Pats would probably have won the Super Bowl.

That doesn't mean it was a bad decision to let them go based on available information and options at the time, but this kind of crowing is excessive in the other direction.

 

[aabtec]

95% of Patriots backers were appauled by the loss of Givens and Branch last year,What happened with that? Well.......
We almost came within a first down of making it back to the SB and likely winning it over the NFC chump Bears,coming close with 2 scrap heap receivers that no one outside of the locker room thought would be able to carry the load that far.

Now BB and FO have the last laugh,We saved HUGE money by letting both receivers go,One had a sub-par year,The other injured and may never be the same for what I hear as Givens injury was a severe one and questions are running rampant throughout Tennessee as to whether he will ever be close to what he was up here...Looks like suckers in Tennessee and Seattle right now...BB and the FO look as if they could sell swampland in NJ to anyone right now and get away with it!.

The money that was freed up gave us the opportunity to sign Adalius and proceed with possible more goodies in FA land,Definately the draft is loaded with wideout talent so the loss of Deion and Givens looks like a steal for us right now.....No way we would have signed a all-pro LB like Adalius for this much money if it was tied up in 2 WR guys that wanted to be overpaid.

All of a sudden the talk of BB losing his touch as a HC are getting quieter by the day.....We probably won't hear a peep from anyone,at least thru the summer questioning his madness,when in fact its genius once again.

All Belichick needs to do now is run for President in 2008 as a second job,Seems smarter than those goofs who are vying right now as candidates,At least he thinks BEFORE the upcoming year approaches and plans ahead to avoid negative situations,more than I can say about any politician as of late.

Sorry dude but did we win the SB ? Nope. Brady still needs a couple of good WR's.

I am glad we will sign AT but unless he is going to be running routes the team still has a problem at wr. I hate to think of needing Caldwell to catch a critical pass on a consitsent basis..

 

[satz]

playing the devils advocate again.... they should have signed both and lost dan koppen now...then if we would have gone 10-6 and be 1 and done in the playoff i think from what i see every one here would have be very happy.

we improved to 12-4
and went deeper in the playoff then 2005.....how can you see we did notimprove and actually going 10-6 and not even making the afc champsionship game in 2005 is still the better season .Beats me?.

 

[Bella*chick]

Well, it's totally moot, but IMO if we hadn't had 12 men on the freakin' field, we would have been SB champs. We were in tatters, and very nearly pulled that game out. The WR situation was only a part of the story of that game.

The OP's point, while overexuberant, is sound.

 

[homerpatsfan]

the fact that we came so close with what we had speaks volumes to what a total team we have . as for free agents i trust bb and sp. DONT YOU!

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

I'm sure BB is not laughing at losing that last game. I think this is why he's ticked and is big time reloading.

 

[Water Boy]

I would have died to have at least one of either Branch or Givens in the AFCCG. No way one of those 2 drops that wide open pass.

Take a look at the 2005 game tape against Denver. Givens dropped an audibled "quick out" pass in a crucial moment in the game.

 

[richpats]

If one of Givens or Branch had stayed and stayed healthy, the Pats would probably have won the Super Bowl.

Who knows what kind of personnel we would have had available for that game, plus the rain would have neutralized the matchups. Safe to say there would have been plenty of turnovers, and it could have been anyone's game.

 

[rookBoston]

Caldwell and Gaffney were fine. The receiving corp was great.

The team was one win away from a SB championship (the winner of Colts-Pats was certain to win it all). The season was not a flop.

The Colts game was a toss up and we certainly didn't lose it because of our WRs... I think it came down to depth at LB at NT more than anything.

I actually agree that losing Givens and Branch was fine. Either one would have contributed if they'd stayed with the team at the right price. But, I think the Pats got better value with Caldwell and Gaffney, and totally cashed in on Branch's market value.

I fully expect that we'll get a 5 year starter with the #24 pick in the draft this year, and I think Gaffney is already proven to be equal talent and equally productive, compared to Branch-- and he didn't have the benefit of an offseason and TC with the team.

 

[zoostation]

I would have died to have at least one of either Branch or Givens in the AFCCG. No way one of those 2 drops that wide open pass.

The team put 34 on the board. Offense wasn't the issue. I would have died to have AD covering the Indy TE's and stopping the run. Not to mention a healthy defensive backfield.

Don't forget, I know it was on the road but AD and the Ravens kept Indy out of the endzone.

 

[upstater1]

I would have died to have at least one of either Branch or Givens in the AFCCG. No way one of those 2 drops that wide open pass.

+1. Let me say that I was one of the people who hated what Branch did and I applauded the Patriots for taking the stance they did. Having a player under contract pull that crap would have had negative consequences for the Patriots in future years. I blamed Branch. And I think the Patriots were side-swiped by a lot of stuff that went on when they allowed the agent to make a deal with other teams.

But, I'd be stupid to not believe that they'd have a Super Bowl ring if Branch had played against the Colts.

I'm sorry folks, but it's the truth. Trading Branch away cost us a Super Bowl. I believe that in my heart of hearts and with 95% certainty.

 

[DaBruinz]

I would have died to have at least one of either Branch or Givens in the AFCCG. No way one of those 2 drops that wide open pass.

I think you need to go back to the Denver game in 2005 and refresh your memory. BOTH had drops on wide open passes.

 

[DaBruinz]

The team put 34 on the board. Offense wasn't the issue. I would have died to have AD covering the Indy TE's and stopping the run. Not to mention a healthy defensive backfield.

Don't forget, I know it was on the road but AD and the Ravens kept Indy out of the endzone.

Exactly. The Offense was NOT the bigger problem in the AFCCG against the Colts. Did they have issues? Yes. They showed that when you lose your running game to injuries (Dillon, Faulk, Maroney with his ribs), your team will have a hard time playing.

However, the Defense was even more decimated by injuries. Seau, Harrison, Wilson all out. Seymour's elbow and knee.

Part of the reason the Colts beat our defense was that their running game was doing so well. Had we stuffed that, they'd have been forced to pass more and the Pats could have countered more appropriately by having their nickle package on the field.

 

[Bella*chick]

I'm sorry folks, but it's the truth. Trading Branch away cost us a Super Bowl. I believe that in my heart of hearts and with 95% certainty.

It may be your truth, but I think it was obvious the defense was the problem.