Pats need to sign Deion Branch NOW!

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

They have the cap room and Branch is on the verge of pulling a Javon Walker. They can't afford to let Branch walk like Givens did next offseason.

 

[patsox23]

I hope they sign him this off-season, as well. If we did, that would make a nice, savvy, long-view off-season of...

LOSING: Givens, AV, McGinest, Chatham

vs.

EXTENDING: Neal, Seymour, Branch

 

[spacecrime]

They have the cap room and Branch is on the verge of pulling a Javon Walker. They can't afford to let Branch walk like Givens did next offseason.

We're doomed.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Yeah let's just give the players everything they want.. yeah!

 

[zippo59]

Because he's tight?

 

[Pats726]

I hope they can come to an agreement..BUT...I am not as optimistic as a few months ago...

 

[JoeSixPat]

YEAH! What he said!!! BB is OUT of CONTROL!!! He does NOT know WHAT he's doing!!!!

BRING BACK PETE CARROL!BRING BACK PETE CARROL!BRING BACK PETE CARROL!BRING BACK PETE CARROL!BRING BACK PETE CARROL!BRING BACK PETE CARROL!BRING BACK PETE CARROL!BRING BACK PETE CARROL!

 

[richpats]

I hope they can come to an agreement..BUT...I am not as optimistic as a few months ago...

I'm right with you...when Givens signed w/ the Titans I figured we weren't throwing big $$$ at David cuz we were planning on signing Deion long-term. But maybe we're not planning on giving big $$$ to Branch either. We MAY have a future #1 in Chad Jackson and Reche Caldwell could be a stud in our offense. Everybody knows Deion isn't the most durable guy, so perhaps the Pats are playing "wait and see" this season and will decide if Branch is worth keeping next year.

What's working against the Pats are all of these inflated contracts given to other receivers. There are #2's (Wayne, Givens, for ex) and #3's (Randle-El) getting #1 money.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Where is T-shirt?

He needs to be on top of the tightness issues. Will the loss of Bethel make us more or less tight? If Branch holds out will that hurt the rest of the team's tightness?

Come on guy- there are fans waiting to know the tightness status of the team. Those brook trout can wait.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Where is T-shirt?

He needs to be on top of the tightness issues. Will the loss of Bethel make us more or less tight? If Branch holds out will that hurt the rest of the team's tightness?

Come on guy- there are fans waiting to know the tightness status of the team. Those brook trout can wait.

You don't understand how many brookies there are up here, and how damn hungry they are! (And I picked up a new hobby/sport that goes along with my trout hunting! Geocaching. Family is going nuts over it, we all have been having a blast with it.)

My take on the tightness, and of course we all need to defer to THEARCHIVES, but my take is that Bethel leaving has no effect on our overall tightness. Zero. However, Branch holding out of camp will give us a good hit on the tightness. Unity is tight. Discontent is untight.

Over and out. May the tightness be yours.

 

[dryheat44]

My take on the tightness, and of course we all need to defer to THEARCHIVES, but my take is that Bethel leaving has no effect on our overall tightness. Zero. However, Branch holding out of camp will give us a good hit on the tightness. Unity is tight. Discontent is untight.

Over and out. May the tightness be yours.

See, I disagree. I think we've sufferered a net loss of tightness with Bethel leaving and Sullivan coming in with #96. 96 is the opposite of tight. It is very loose. Possibly the loosest number 1-99. Bethel's tight-looking #81 was the best thing he brought this ballclub, and I'm not sure it will be easily replaced. Maybe Bam will trade in #13 for #81, and then we'll have a karmic re-alignment of tightness.

 

[PATSNUTme]

You don't understand how many brookies there are up here, and how damn hungry they are! (And I picked up a new hobby/sport that goes along with my trout hunting! Geocaching. Family is going nuts over it, we all have been having a blast with it.)

My take on the tightness, and of course we all need to defer to THEARCHIVES, but my take is that Bethel leaving has no effect on our overall tightness. Zero. However, Branch holding out of camp will give us a good hit on the tightness. Unity is tight. Discontent is untight.

Over and out. May the tightness be yours.

It does seem as if THEARCHIVES has refrained from giving tightness opinions lately.

When I first saw 'Geocaching" it thought it was like "snipe" hunting.

Anyway, my fondest memory of fishing is when a bunch of us guy rented a camp up in Eutis for 3 days. The trout were jusping all over the place but would not bite on anything. We even tried the old standbye- night crawlers. Nope!

We got so drunk over those three days it's a wonder that someone didn't fall in and drown. The worst drunk I've ever been on. That is what slow fishing will do you you. Hell we even we on a roady to some small Canadian town.

I won't comment anymore about that trip.

 

[JR4]

They have the cap room and Branch is on the verge of pulling a Javon Walker. They can't afford to let Branch walk like Givens did next offseason.

Very few players can pull a Richard Seymour on BB/SP and expect positive
results. IMO, Branch is treading on dangerous ground maybe at the advice
of his agent. If Branch thinks too highly of himself he'll be playing for another
team next year.

Can PATs survive without Branch next year?
Yes ... and do well I would add. Next year Jackson will have a year in the
system and so will the new TE's. If Jackson proves himself he could be a
better #1 than Branch.

Is Branch expecting too much? I do not know. Suppose from the PATs
point of view 12M guaranteed money is too much. What can they do?

1. they can stall til next year and see if Jackson can be the #1 they hope.
If not then they may end up paying more to retain Branch's services.
If Jackson is legit #1 then Branch's position is weakend and he has one of two choices
a) stay with the PATs as #2 WR and accept the PATs offer
b) look to be #1 or get more money in FA elsewhere.

2) they can keep trying to get Branch to agree to a lower deal this year.
if Jackson really shows up in pasing camps and TC .... he may just see the
writting on the wall and agree to deal. BTW, If he holds out of mandatory
mini TC this month -- I bet their offer will be less.

3) they can get ticked off at Branch for playing the hold out game and
decide to let branch go to FA next year. In doing this they send a
message to other team members that holding out is not an acceptable
practice and will yeild no positive results.
This I think they need to do ... somehow?

There are probably other options.

From the way Branch talks and his manerisms I think he values staying
in one place and will be reluctant to change teams. I think he and Tom have great communication on the field. If he is given a decent offer ... maybe not
what he wants .... he'll stay is my guess but the longer he drags things out
the greater the chance the PATs find an alternative.

 

[dryheat44]

3) they can get ticked off at Branch for playing the hold out game and
decide to let branch go to FA next year. In doing this they send a
message to other team members that holding out is not an acceptable
practice and will yeild no positive results. This I think they need to do.

.

Umm. If they let Branch go to FA, and he signs a huge contract (not unlikely...he could be the best WR on the market), they send a message to other players that holding out WILL yield positive results.

The Patriots, I'm sure, have a dollar figure in mind for Branch. They should offer it now if they want to retain him. If he hits FA after having a good year, there's no way he's coming back. Somebody like the Jets, Green Bay, Minnesota, whoever, will definitely overpay.

 

[brdmaverick]

the thing about Deion is that I think he could be looking for a lot more than what he is worth.

I mean, he has to be looking at the money that guys like David Givens and David Patten received after leaving the Patriots (and neither of them was the number one guy on the Pats).

Branch has to be looking for a payday, but he probably won't get it from the Pats. After all, even though he is clearly our #1 receiver, he should not be getting paid what some of the other number one receivers are getting. While he is a very good receiver, defenses can render him ineffective. Deion is a guy that needs his space and then can make things happen. Guys like TO, Moss, and Chad Johnson can create things themselves.

 

[JR4]

Umm. If they let Branch go to FA, and he signs a huge contract (not unlikely...he could be the best WR on the market), they send a message to other players that holding out WILL yield positive results.
.........

Well Givens didn't hold out but did get a big contract. Does that send a
message to other players ... if you're real good and want an outrageously big pay day hit FA?
If so, then, that is what Branch needs to do.
In fact unless you're at Seymour's level ... that is probably a good rule of
thumb when dealing with BB/SP.

What PATs should not do, IMO , is give the impression that if a player
holds out .... they can get Big Bucks ... FROM THE PATS .... unless you are
definitely one of the best Players in the league and a Critical part of
what the PATs want to do. Both factors must be true.
Branch is neither and should know that.

 

[dryheat44]

In fact unless you're at Seymour's level ... that is probably a good rule of
thumb when dealing with BB/SP.

What PATs should not do, IMO , is give the impression that if a player
holds out .... they can get Big Bucks ... FROM THE PATS .... unless you are
definitely one of the best Players in the league and a Critical part of
what the PATs want to do. Both factors must be true.

Right on. Brady and Seymour are THE two irreplaceable parts on this team, and should be treated as such. I think it's been established that a holdout won't help other players' negotiations with BB/SP. The best thing to do would be to go out and play as best you can to drive up your value. But the Javon Walker experience last year will give some players in the last year of their contracts second thoughts.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

You don't understand how many brookies there are up here, and how damn hungry they are! (And I picked up a new hobby/sport that goes along with my trout hunting! Geocaching. Family is going nuts over it, we all have been having a blast with it.)

My take on the tightness, and of course we all need to defer to THEARCHIVES, but my take is that Bethel leaving has no effect on our overall tightness. Zero. However, Branch holding out of camp will give us a good hit on the tightness. Unity is tight. Discontent is untight.

Over and out. May the tightness be yours.

Geocaching can be fun, but I must say that it can make you feel a bit uncomfortable.... as you are rumaging around in the bush at the local park looking for some geocache and the passers by are staring at you like you have a third arm growing out of your forhead.

Other than that, it's pretty fun. You do have to pony up the $ for a geolocation device though.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Geocaching can be fun, but I must say that it can make you feel a bit uncomfortable.... as you are rumaging around in the bush at the local park looking for some geocache and the passers by are staring at you like you have a third arm growing out of your forhead.

Other than that, it's pretty fun. You do have to pony up the $ for a geolocation device though.

Yeah, I don't care for the urban/suburban caches... but there's nothing like using multi-million dollar military satelites to hunt down a piece of tupperware hidden way the hell out in the woods or on top of some friggin' mountain. :rocker:

Wife and kids and I got to see a cool waterfall and a 300 year old tree (amazingly huge!) this weekend, all within 15 miles of us, and stuff we never would have even known about.

Yeah, you gotta spend the cash on a GPS reciever, but I had already decided that $125 was well worth it after getting lost for 6 hours in the North Maine Woods looking for a secret fishing hole that we saw on arial maps. The idea that I could actually have fun with the thing just made spending the money even easier.

I'll have to start a geocaching thread on the General talk forum! (If I can remember where that is)

Sorry, back to tightness... Dryheat, you're nuts! 96 is uber tight. Look at the symmetry!! Almost as tight as 69. Nowhere near as tight as 17 and 39 though.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I know I'm going to sound old fashioned, but I think players should honor EXISTING contracts. The ownership didn't hold back any of his pay during his contract years, so he should act likewise (show up to all meetings, minicamps, etc). I remember my favorite hockey team (NY Islanders) used to dump anyone who held out, even if it was one day, one hour, whatever. I used to love that, you hold out, and your gone. I wish owners would do the same thing.

Maybe Branch is unhappy that things aren't moving along as far as a new contract, but he knows he has the Pats by the marbles, being their only good receiver at this point. I have lost some respect for him.

Best case scenerio, he only holds out for this camp only, which I believe isn't mandatory, and shows up at all other mandatory functions.

Worst case scenerio, he holds out deep into camp, signs late, and then gets hurt because of poor conditioning due to holding out.