Seven sins

[ClosingTime]

Didn't see this posted....

The sin: WRATH (otherwise known as vengeful feelings toward another)
The sinner: New England Patriots
Perhaps wide receivers Doug Gabriel and Troy Brown, and tight end Ben Watson will be able to fill the void left behind by Deion Branch. But clearly, the Patriots' passing offense is feeling the pains of the offseason beef that ended with a divorce from Branch. Say whatever you want about financial logic and rules. The bottom line: the Patriots have plenty of acreage under the salary cap and could have afforded to keep Brady's favorite target without destroying the precious balance of the franchise's checkbook. Instead, the team took a hard line stance and basically told Branch they didn't think he was worth what the open market would dictate.

Make no mistake, the Patriots took it personally when Branch held out. And the suggestion that he pursue a trade was a vengeful ploy that blew up in their face. It certainly wasn't the first financial low blow attempted, either (see: Lawyer Milloy's last-minute release in 2003). The reality is, every offseason there is some kind of tiff with a player who wants to be paid. Disagreements that tend to end the same way: with New England incurring its roster-trimming wrath and talent leaving in a huff.

In reality, the Patriots came with an unnecessary iron fist this offseason and alienated a valuable player. Branch was a Super Bowl MVP who also happened to be the team's most dependable receiving option, and whose impact was bigger than just numbers. You can bet New England's militant fallout with Branch has plenty to do with Brady posting arguably his least efficient four-game stretch in his career. And you can bet his loss will loom large when key plays are needed for a Super Bowl run, too.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-sinners100406&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

"And you can bet his loss will loom large when key plays are needed for a Super Bowl run, too."

Just reading that arrogant statement, I am reminded of the blessing's of God's love and his forgiveness of sin. Alleluia.

 

[Brownfan80]

Didn't see this posted....




http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-sinners100406&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Just what we need, more posthumous posturing about the Branch saga. It's a dead issue.

For all the junk in the papers about the Patriots 'lowballing' they offered just about the same money that Branch ended up taking from Seattle.

There was a personal vendetta against the ORG by Branch that has been well documented. The only reason he didn't take this supposed 'low ball' offer is because the Patriots wouldn't grant him an out from his current contract, they had written it as an extension to the existing deal without throwing out his final year of his rookie contract. This was a STARTING POINT THAT BRANCH NEVER COUNTERED.

The simple fact is that the Patriots, in order to keep Branch, would have had to not only over pay for the player, but would have also had to allow a player under a 5 year contract to renig on his deal after 4 years. This double whammy is a comprimise that the Patriots should not have given into, and they did not. Short term it will look like a debacle, longterm this was the absolute best possible outcome that the Patriots could have come to.

They couldn't have gotten Deion back regardless, because of his Vendetta over the 5th year. So instead of letting him go out empty handed, they got a first round pick for him, only trading him when they got exactly what they deemed was value enough to unload him.

This over spun story of our cap room and the apparent mis-management by the Patriots brass is silly and overblown.

I can't say that I'm surprised by how bad the article is though, after all it is from Yahoo sports.

 

[desi-patsfan]

my god DB was NOT jerry rice. He was NOT cris carter. He was a good player that will be replaced soon.

 

[tailgater]

Gotta wonder why all the 'experts' aren't working for NFL teams sometimes. There it is, laid out in black and white. How could the Pats screw up so badly?!

Let this writer join Felger and others that seem to think that, since the cap space is available, feel free to overspend! Where's the harm?

Are they truly that stupid? For some reason they can foresee the potential problems caused by the Pats actions (guys leaving without even bothering to entertain offers from the Pats, free agents avoiding Foxboro, etc, all certainly possible, certainly with a certain type of player or agent), but fail to do the same from the other side, and completely disregard the ramifications down the road if they had capitulated to Branch and his agent. What player in their right mind would accept anything but a premium to re-sign with the Pats, knowing they'd beat any offer, whether or not the player was top 10 or top 20 at their position or not?

 

[Pats_AZ]

"And you can bet his loss will loom large when key plays are needed for a Super Bowl run, too."

Just reading that arrogant statement, I am reminded of the blessing's of God's love and his forgiveness of sin. Alleluia.

AMEN!!!

Well said Box_O_Rocks.....well said.

Jay

 

[pats1]

...and that's why Charles Robinson has always been worthless to me.

 

[Bella*chick]

Didn't see this posted....

Probably because it's an old issue that no one here cares about anymore.

 

[ClosingTime]

Well Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse Me

 

[Brownfan80]

Well Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse Me

Just imagine the reception you'd have gotten with this post if we'd LOST to the Bengals.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Just imagine the reception you'd have gotten with this post if we'd LOST to the Bengals.

Show some charity, it's not like his club has anyone better then Charlie Batch.

 

[ilduce06410]

are those seven sins deadly?

Gotta wonder why all the 'experts' aren't working for NFL teams sometimes. There it is, laid out in black and white. How could the Pats screw up so badly?! Let this writer join Felger and others that seem to think that, since the cap space is available, feel free to overspend! Where's the harm?
Are they truly that stupid? For some reason they can foresee the potential problems caused by the Pats actions (guys leaving without even bothering to entertain offers from the Pats, free agents avoiding Foxboro, etc, all certainly possible, certainly with a certain type of player or agent), but fail to do the same from the other side, and completely disregard the ramifications down the road if they had capitulated to Branch and his agent.

IMHO twig wnted to make the big score, get as much money as he possibly could, not leave a penny on the table. thst's his right, but it was obvious from day one, heck, of his rookie contract, that there was no intent to pay him market price, ever. as i recall he signed for lless that his 'slot' usually got.
One could also argue that neither Brady nor Seymour re-signed at market price, but rather accepted the MINIMUM amount that was appropriate for their status. the same is ctrue for bruschi. IMHO the only players being paid market rate are light and colvin.
BB/SP wanted the same from the twig.
instead of simply doing what they could, in the player's best interest, twig's agents screwed up the whole situation. THEY caused the bad blood. so DB signs with seattle for a deal that's only about $2m more than what patriots offered.

 

[ClosingTime]

Show some charity, it's not like his club has anyone better then Charlie Batch.

Got get your shinebox.

 

[Oswlek]

Charles Robinson makes John Clayton seem manly.

I can honestly say that I have never seen Robinson write anything that wasn't either horribly misguided or nothing more than a rehash of what every other writer has been saying for weeks.

He is abso-smurfly the most useless football writer on the planet. And I am not using hyperbole.

 

[DaBruinz]

Didn't see this posted....




http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-sinners100406&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Unfortunately, this article is pretty worthless since it totally ignores the fact that Branch was offered 2 different contracts and never bothered to send in a counter. All Branch did was give the Patriots an ultimatum. Guarantee that they wouldn't Franchise him or he'd hold out. Its hilarious that they tried to spin it so that all the blame falls on the Patriots and NONE of it on Branch.

The Patriots attempted to negoiate in good faith with Branch. Branch didn't feel the need to negotiate at all.

 

[DaBruinz]

Well Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse Me

There is no excuse for you.

All you did was attempt to troll by posting a clearly BS article.

 

[DaBruinz]

Re: are those seven sins deadly?

IMHO twig wnted to make the big score, get as much money as he possibly could, not leave a penny on the table. thst's his right, but it was obvious from day one, heck, of his rookie contract, that there was no intent to pay him market price, ever. as i recall he signed for lless that his 'slot' usually got.
One could also argue that neither Brady nor Seymour re-signed at market price, but rather accepted the MINIMUM amount that was appropriate for their status. the same is ctrue for bruschi. IMHO the only players being paid market rate are light and colvin.
BB/SP wanted the same from the twig.
instead of simply doing what they could, in the player's best interest, twig's agents screwed up the whole situation. THEY caused the bad blood. so DB signs with seattle for a deal that's only about $2m more than what patriots offered.

Sorry, IlDuce, but you've got some things wrong. 1) Branch signed for what his slot was supposed to be. 2) Seymour signed for the market value at the time he was negotiating his contract. 3) The Patriots were treating Branch the exact same way they were treating Seymour and Brady in that they were requiring him to finish his rookie contract. If you review Miguel's site, you will see that both Seymour and Brady were paid according to the last year of their rookie deals. Yes, they received the signing bonus of their new deal, but they still were under the salary of their old deals.

Your use of Bruschi to try and prove your point is pretty ludicrous. The fact is that Bruschi went into management and told them he only wanted the 2 million a year. How can you fault management for that?

 

[ClosingTime]

There is no excuse for you.

All you did was attempt to troll by posting a clearly BS article.

Not really. Robinson was much more critical of the Steelers than he was of the Pats. I thought he entire article was a bit silly but, hey, it's Friday and I thought Rodney could use it in his weekly disrepect diatribe.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Well Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse Me

So we have a wiseass troll that wants to try to stir up trouble with some stupid article about some guy that plays for the Seahawks. Then when he is called on it, he does a lame Steve Martin imitation.

Why don't you go back to your sh#tsburg site and whine about your own team.

 

[Fogbuster]

:trolls:


And people once called *me* a troll!!

These media people (those at yahoo or where ever) have _WAY_ freaking too much time on their hands to writing sludge like this. How about the "sin" of greed on Branch's part?? But, no, it's always the "heartless team owners" who are the problem, never players (emboldened by their vampire agents) who are the problem.

Get a life, media people! You run your team the way you want, and the Patriots will run their team their way. We'll see who's standing in the end.

:wha: