Pats stiffing Brady?

[onegameatatime]

Inside the NFL show on HBO -- Costas and King muse about whether Brady might be ticked off for taking less money and having the team not re-signing Branch.

Hmmm. Last year, Pats draft Mankins and Kaszur and lock up Neal.

This year, Pats draft offense in Rounds 1-4 and a lineman in a later round. I'm not sure about Jackson -- he could be great or OK; but I believe we have a winner in Maroney.

While he can lament some losses, seems to me that on balance, Brady should be pleased with what the Pats have done on offense.

 

[shmessy]

Inside the NFL show on HBO -- Costas and King muse about whether Brady might be ticked off for taking less money and having the team not re-signing Branch.

Hmmm. Last year, Pats draft Mankins and Kaszur and lock up Neal.

This year, Pats draft offense in Rounds 1-4 and a lineman in a later round. I'm not sure about Jackson -- he could be great or OK; but I believe we have a winner in Maroney.

While he can lament some losses, seems to me that on balance, Brady should be pleased with what the Pats have done on offense.

Very simply: Jackson will be a monster.

 

[Willie55]

Let them muse all they want, they know nothing. They are just speculating.

 

[lobster]

Brady has a press conference every week and seems fairly upfront about his attitude. He said he was very distracted with the Branch problem.

 

[QuiGon]

Inside the NFL show on HBO -- Costas and King muse about whether Brady might be ticked off for taking less money and having the team not re-signing Branch.

Hmmm. Last year, Pats draft Mankins and Kaszur and lock up Neal.

This year, Pats draft offense in Rounds 1-4 and a lineman in a later round. I'm not sure about Jackson -- he could be great or OK; but I believe we have a winner in Maroney.

While he can lament some losses, seems to me that on balance, Brady should be pleased with what the Pats have done on offense.

I wouldn't worry about it. There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Brady "might be ticked off"... Just more mediots being mediots.

 

[FSUPatsFan]

Inside the NFL show on HBO -- Costas and King muse about whether Brady might be ticked off for taking less money and having the team not re-signing Branch.

Hmmm. Last year, Pats draft Mankins and Kaszur and lock up Neal.

This year, Pats draft offense in Rounds 1-4 and a lineman in a later round. I'm not sure about Jackson -- he could be great or OK; but I believe we have a winner in Maroney.

While he can lament some losses, seems to me that on balance, Brady should be pleased with what the Pats have done on offense.

Well, Peter King contradicted himself then. During halftime of the ND-Mich game, there was a segment about Brady Quinn and Tom Brady. Afterward King was asked if Brady would be mad since he took less. He said Brady, Bruschi, and the others that took less to say would be more mad if they overpaid for Branch. He said they would wonder why the Pats weren't holding the line and sticking to their philosophy.

 

[MagicMarker]

Miguel, can you chime in here?

IIRC, you wrote something a year or so ago that everyone was saying Brady took a discount for the team to help them out, but Peyton Manning was selfish because he wanted so much money.

But, over the life of the contracts (because Brady took fewer years and would be a free agent again), there really wasn't that big of a difference between the deals.

Or, am I mistaken on this one?

 

[Lansdowne]

Well, Peter King contradicted himself then. During halftime of the ND-Mich game, there was a segment about Brady Quinn and Tom Brady. Afterward King was asked if Brady would be mad since he took less. He said Brady, Bruschi, and the others that took less to say would be more mad if they overpaid for Branch. He said they would wonder why the Pats weren't holding the line and sticking to their philosophy.

That was an interesting take, I thought.

 

[fnordcircle]

Brady has a press conference every week and seems fairly upfront about his attitude. He said he was very distracted with the Branch problem.

Those guys are just speculating with no basis or else we would have been inundated with stories about it right now, as hyper as the media is for stories right now.

That being said going by Brady's press conferences is almost as bad as going by Belichick's press conferences. I'm glad both of the guys are on our team but Brady walks the company line in public and has done so ever since his Lawyer Milloy temper tantrum.

The Patriots aren't stupid and they aren't a team with a history for sitting on cap space. They'll sign some folks to extensions before the season is out.

 

[jaychamp]

Brady is absolutely getting stiffed. He lost one receiver, and gained a good, young and signed to long term O-line, a stud running back, 1 or 2 potential stud WR's, and now 3 good options at tight end. The horror of it all

And now hopefully enough cap space to sign both Koppen and Graham. Not to mention the picks for next year.

 

[mgteich]

1) There is no question in my mind that Brady was asked to take less money so that he might have so that the patriots would have enough money to sign players like Branch and Givens in the future. With the new CBA, such reduction was totally unnecessary.

2) I heard Brady in the interview repeated on the Russ Francis show this morning. There is no question about. Brady is emotional about the situation, and has been distracted. That was Brady's assessment.

3) That being said, bb was clear with Brady after the draft, that the draft was for the offense, and that the offense better be much improved.

So, its been a whirlwind for Brady. All he retained from last years receivers was a Brown who might have retired and Childress. On the other hand, the draft was incredible! They can be no greater gift to a Qb than a quality running back and a starting OT, especially when two starters are returning from injuries.

BOTTOM LINE
Personally, I think Brady is indeed pi$$ed. However, he's a professional and will do all he can to win.

 

[Miguel]

Miguel, can you chime in here?

IIRC, you wrote something a year or so ago that everyone was saying Brady took a discount for the team to help them out, but Peyton Manning was selfish because he wanted so much money.

I said that Brady got a great deal for someone who had 2 years on his contract. Manning was an UFA when he signed his deal. If Brady suffered an career-ending injury in TC this year he would be on IR costing $13.8 million on the cap and still have $18.3 million of unamortized signing bonus money left to be accounted for on future contracts. If he had not signed extension, there would not be the $18.3 million.

But, over the life of the contracts (because Brady took fewer years and would be a free agent again), there really wasn't that big of a difference between the deals.

Or, am I mistaken on this one?

You are mistaken on this one.

 

[onegameatatime]

Brady could be emotional or even ticked off about the Branch situation, both because for personal reasons and because of the 2006 downside, AND still feel as though the team is making a significant investment in offense.

When I think of Brady and what makes him great, it's that he has accomplished what he has on a team that seems to invest much more into defense than in offense, and has done it with a variety of skill players.

 

[upstater1]

Brady is averaging $10 million a year.

He's underpaid. Branch is not worth 70% of Brady.

Branch might be worth 6.5 million, but only if Brady is making $7 million. It's a dilemma. They might want to bump Harrison, Bruschi and Brady up another tier.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Branch wanted to be the third highest paid player on the roster. Sorry Deion, but on a BB roster with Tom Brady behind center that is not going to happen for any WR.

So he's off to a team where the QB just signed an extension that pays him $8MAAV and half a dozen players this season have $6M+ cap hits but they lost their All Pro LG trying to save $600K on a franchise tag and a backup nicknamed Pork Chop is struggling to open holes for their $8M RB or plug them in front of the $8M QB.

BB knows that time is all Brady needs - he can find anyone given time and given time most anyone can get open. Improving his line and upgrading his running game does not constitute stiffing a QB like Brady. Shortchanging him to keep his #1 WR happy would be from a long term standpoint. That's a Polianesque strategy that places all the eggs in the QB's basket, and then points fingers at the deficiencies created by underfunding elsewhere when it doesn't work.

Every million you expend to pay at or above top market value for one player or unit gets deducted from another or from overall quality depth. And while you need to maintain a certain level of top talent in all units the teams that win in today's NFL are the ones who maintain a broader level of balanced talent across the board by drafting well and using FA judiciously and not caving in to the pressure to overpay for any one, which soon becomes two, and then three or four individual players.

That's what the Belioli team building model is all about, and it's won 3 of the first 6 Superbowls it's competed for against all manner of other phlosophies. A 4th was won by a team in Pittsburgh that adheres to a similar philosophy.

 

[Miguel]

Miguel, can you chime in here?

IIRC, you wrote something a year or so ago that everyone was saying Brady took a discount for the team to help them out, but Peyton Manning was selfish because he wanted so much money.

But, over the life of the contracts (because Brady took fewer years and would be a free agent again), there really wasn't that big of a difference between the deals.

Or, am I mistaken on this one?

BTW, thank you for the courtesy of asking what I have actually posted instead of taking the liberty of making it up. I appreciate that common courtesy. It is a trait unfortunately not found often on this board.

 

[mikey]

Is Brady underpaid?

Brady signed a 6-year $60M with $14.5 signing bonus. In comparison, 21-year-old Alex Smith signed a 6-year $55M with $20M signing bonus.

So is Brady underpaid?

The only way we would know if Brady is underpaid by the Patriots is for him to play out his contract and go on the free market.

If Daniel Snyder paid 35-year-old Mark Brunnell 7-year $43M with $9M signing bonus, how much would Snyder have paid Brady on the free market?

The Patriots is not a top-heavy team, with the "middle class" getting the bulk of the salary cap. As a consequence, the key-employees like Brady and Branch are underpaid relative to their MARKET VALUE, as Branch clearly demonstrated recently.

.

 

[dryheat44]

"To be the highest-paid, or anything like that, is not going to make me feel any better,'' he told me. "That's not what makes me happy. In this game, the more one player gets, the more he takes away from what others can get. Is it going to make me feel any better to make an extra million, which, after taxes, is about $500,000? That million might be more important to the team.''


--Tom Brady after signing his extension. Now because Givens and Branch left, we're doubting his sincerity? That being the highest-paid isimportant to him? That money is what makes him happy? Some people here are as bad as Borges and Felger, enjoying stirring things up to create a response. Throw stones much?