Tom Curran to the rescue...as usual...

[patsox23]

here is a GREAT column on the Branch situation. He captures it all - the idiocy of a greedy, short-sighted agent; the naivete of a good guy WR; the difference between a FA contract and one being negotiated a year earlier; the total lack of ANY SHOT that this move will work and the idiotic personnel (mis)management of the Indianapolis Colts.

Enjoy - one of the best articles of the off-season:

http://www.projo.com/patriots/content/projo_20060727_27branch.33b5c61.html

 

[MoLewisrocks]

In the NE media perhaps, but this piece sounds a lot like much of what Patsfans have been saying here for the last few weeks.

And the problem I have with this catchy line:

"Nice move, Jason. Make your client sound like he's an 8-year-old sweatshop employee making 44 cents a week in Thailand. That'll swing public opinion in his favor."

is that blaming the agent for misrepresenting a millionaire client who has been in the NFL for 4 years now after graduating from an acredited university in the good old US of A is making that player sound like he attended college on a specal needs scholarship.

Enough with the absolution, that's just another version of poor Deion.

Deion sure seems like a nice guy, but he's either extremely disingenuous or tragically flawed or incredibly gullible. The agent works for him. Deion can add, he can read, and it may just be at the end of the day he's somewhat egocentric (at common WR trait) as well as greedy (a trait shared by most professional athletes).

 

[PatsRI]

Good article but I feel like Mo does on this one. Deion can get rid of this guy or make him except the offer. Hopefully if Branch is being led around by his agent that he has other family or friends that will talk to him before he starts losing the $14000 a day. If it's Deion's greed then he gets what he deserves.

 

[Pats726]

Mo is right...many on here have been pointing it all out..but Cuuran does a great job...In contrast there's Borges, Tomase and someone like Greenburg who last night kept talking about how the Patriot's FO would regret it if they
didn't extend and pay HIM. Huh?? I think uf they DID overpay Branch, they may have MORE regret as there would be a line of Patriot players every year wanting more money. But as Greenburg has said..don't pay him and one may have Branch tuen against the team..as if anything Chayut has done HAS NOT been...bad situation and Curran has hit a home run.

 

[DarrylS]

Curran once again proves he is the voice of reason amongst all of the writers, with the exception of Reiss. The deal seems fair, and to not show up for camp is something I do not expect of a player of such great character, dump the agent Deion.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Good Stuff PatSox23!

You are correct, it was a GREAT article.

 

[rhubma]

Curran is back. This article is his best writing in a LONG time.

3-4 years ago TC was the best... a must read on every column (similar to Bill Simmons). Lately though he has been blah (in fact blah, blah, blah). And IMO Reiss replaced him as number 1 must read. My feelings were that Curran had developed Kevin Mannix disease - thinking about self-promotion rather than the Pats and the fans. Maybe TC is coming back from this dark side to start to shed the light again...

 

[Miguel]

In the NE media perhaps, but this piece sounds a lot like much of what Patsfans have been saying here for the last few weeks.

Bingo, Curran even repeated this board's myth that the Colts lost 2 defensive starters in free agency this year.

 

[Clonamery]

Bingo, Curran even repeated this board's myth that the Colts lost 2 defensive starters in free agency this year.

True, Triplett only started 4 games. Thornton being the only defensive starter the Colts lost.

 

[sarge]

Real good article.

I too though put more of the blame on Branch as he is a grown man.

This is the part of the article that I think makes the best point of all

The truth is, Chayut is railing about an offer that would average close to $6 million per season. That's about the same as this year's franchise number for receivers (somebody exploit me like that).

The franchise number is equal to the salaries of the five highest-paid receivers. I hate to do this because Branch is a terrific receiver, but . . . Marvin Harrison. Chad Johnson. Randy Moss. Steve Smith. Larry Fitzgerald. Anquan Boldin. Torry Holt. There's seven guys better than Branch. There are a few more in his neighborhood.

...
...
To be paid like a free agent you kind of need to be one. If you're coming to the table a year early and asking your team to tear up your deal and give you more money, you ought to understand that you are asking for a favor. You are asking them to ignore a contract that you, the player, signed and, in this case, a contract that Chayut himself negotiated for Branch.

 

[Crowpointer]

I don't read the Projo (since I work in Boston) but I always read Currans articles online and he easily is my favorite Pats writer. I have emailed him questions and observations several times and he always resonds eventually. Felger has never responded. Tom E Curran is the man.

 

[mgcolby]

Bingo, Curran even repeated this board's myth that the Colts lost 2 defensive starters in free agency this year.

Tripplett has 30 starts in 60 pro games, does that not constitute a starter? He only had 4 starts last season as Reagor\Simon started the majority. Just because a guy isn't on the field for the first play of the game doesn't mean he is not a 1st team player.

For instance if a team comes out on their first offensive set in a two TE\two RB formation nine times, does that mean the #2 reciever cannot be considered a starter for that season?

Tripplett was one of their best DL and took enough snaps to justify being called a starter.

 

[spacecrime]

The agent works for him.

True, but players hire agents for the same reason you hire professionals.

When you hire a lawyer or a car mechanic, and they say This is what you should be doing, you tend to do it. When the mechanic says your Constant Velocity Joint needs replacing, do you say, No, it seems to me that it is the transmission, so change that instead?

Yes, the ultimate responsibiity is Deion's, but if he asked the agent for the best way to get a raise, and the agent says do this, it is hard to put the total blame on Deion for listening.

That said, I still think he (and/or his agent) is making a big mistake.

 

[14thDragon]

Tom Curran has never been one to not call a player out, but in this case is going directly after the agent. From all accounts Deion is a great guy, a good interview and a consumate proffesional. Kinda makes one wonder, are some of the patriots friends in the media covering for Deion becuase they happen to like the guy personally, or has this gotten a bit out of control and the agent has become the tail that is wagging the dog?

 

[Miguel]

Tripplett has 30 starts in 60 pro games, does that not constitute a starter? He only had 4 starts last season as Reagor\Simon started the majority.

You just answered your question.

Just because a guy isn't on the field for the first play of the game doesn't mean he is not a 1st team player. For instance if a team comes out on their first offensive set in a two TE\two RB formation nine times, does that mean the #2 reciever cannot be considered a starter for that season?

No. But that is not the case here. The Colts run a 4-3 defense. Everything I know about the Colts in 2005 was that Reagor beat out Tripplett for the starter position during the season and took more snaps than did Tripplett. Therefore, I consider Reagor the starter.

Tripplett was one of their best DL and took enough snaps to justify being called a starter.

Did Tripplett take as many snaps as Reagor?? From what I know, he did not.

There can only be only 11 defensive starters. If this board is going to count Tripplett as a starter, why does this board consider Reagor??

In a 4-3, a team can not have 3 starting defensive tackles.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Good article but I feel like Mo does on this one. Deion can get rid of this guy or make him except the offer. Hopefully if Branch is being led around by his agent that he has other family or friends that will talk to him before he starts losing the $14000 a day. If it's Deion's greed then he gets what he deserves.

I'm guessing that Branch might change his tune when he realizes that he's losing $100,000 every week he sits out. That's 10% of his 2006 salary, just for sitting out a week of training camp, and it'll continue to add up quickly after that.

The Pats really hold all the cards. Branch can sit out the entire pre-season, lose nearly all of his 2006 salary, but then needs to play a full season to:

1.) Qualify as a free agent next year* and
2.) Have a season that will justify a big FA contract (hoping his timing with Brady isn't thrown off by sitting out the pre-season)

*Even then, the Pats have the ability to use the franchise tag to hold him another season at a reasonable 1 year rate of @ $6 million.

If Branch REALLY wants a new contract right now he needs to realize that its going to be for a lot less than he would command were he a free agent, because as I've pointed out, he might not be a free agent until the 2008 season if they tag him.

Is that about it or am I missing something? Football's a business and that cuts both ways - we hear that when a player leaves for more money and we hear that when the teams actually (*gasp!*) hold players to the contracts they signed, and work within the rules of the CBA to impose fines and apply the franchise tag.

In this situation it largely cuts against Branch, but neither he nor his agent appear to realize that just yet.

 

[mgcolby]

You just answered your question.

I was leading into my second point about being on the field for the first play of the game.

No. But that is not the case here. The Colts run a 4-3 defense. Everything I know about the Colts in 2005 was that Reagor beat out Tripplett for the starter position during the season and took more snaps than did Tripplett. Therefore, I consider Reagor the starter.

I believe Tripplett actually took as many or more snaps than Reagor, but I can't find a site that lists that statistic. Reagor and Tripplett were often on the field together. Simon doesn't play much in passing situations and he was out of shape last season which forced him to come off the field. I watched a lot of Colts games last year if not all of them and he was on the field more often than not. Either way he was a big part of their DL.

Did Tripplett take as many snaps as Reagor?? From what I know, he did not.

Once again I don't know where to find that stat.

There can only be only 11 defensive starters. If this board is going to count Tripplett as a starter, why does this board consider Reagor??

I see your reasoning but when a guy rotates through the line and I am confident that he was on the field for more than 50% of the defensive snaps in the games he was healthy puts him in a 1st team status, even if he technically didn't "start" the game meaning he was not on the field for the very first snap.

 

[I'm Ron Borges?]

In the NE media perhaps, but this piece sounds a lot like much of what Patsfans have been saying here for the last few weeks.

And the problem I have with this catchy line:

"Nice move, Jason. Make your client sound like he's an 8-year-old sweatshop employee making 44 cents a week in Thailand. That'll swing public opinion in his favor."

is that blaming the agent for misrepresenting a millionaire client who has been in the NFL for 4 years now after graduating from an acredited university in the good old US of A is making that player sound like he attended college on a specal needs scholarship.

Enough with the absolution, that's just another version of poor Deion.

Deion sure seems like a nice guy, but he's either extremely disingenuous or tragically flawed or incredibly gullible. The agent works for him. Deion can add, he can read, and it may just be at the end of the day he's somewhat egocentric (at common WR trait) as well as greedy (a trait shared by most professional athletes).

Yes, but Curran makes over $100,000 a year for writing about football and we don't. Until they start paying people for second guessing everything on message boards, I guess we'll have to keep our day jobs.

 

[Miguel]

The fact that Reagor did not play in the meaningless end of the season games against the Seahawks and Cardinals and Tripplett did tells me that the Colts consider Reagor as one of the 2 DT starters and not Tripplett. If the Colts consider Reagor as a starter, why should not this board??

 

[I'm Ron Borges?]

Tripplett has 30 starts in 60 pro games, does that not constitute a starter? He only had 4 starts last season as Reagor\Simon started the majority. Just because a guy isn't on the field for the first play of the game doesn't mean he is not a 1st team player.

For instance if a team comes out on their first offensive set in a two TE\two RB formation nine times, does that mean the #2 reciever cannot be considered a starter for that season?

Tripplett was one of their best DL and took enough snaps to justify being called a starter.

Wait, the Bills got that superstar Tripplett. Watch out for them this year. That guy really makes a difference. Bottom line: Curran's comments about the Colts are inacurate. They haven't lost those playoff games because of their defense. They lost because their quarterback is a choker in big games. I'm not sure what the Colts front office has to do with that. If they run their team so poorly, why are they the favorites to win the Super Bowl every year? Sounds like Curran is back to kissing ass. First Dillon and now the Pats front office. Also, David Thornton is one of those players that can't be replaced. He has gone to like six straight Pro Bowls, right?