If I were Deion Branch, who claims he was gonna pray on it, I would have hit my knees every night for the last 4 years and thanked God I was drafted in the second round by a FO and coaching staff who had just won the most improbable Superbowl in history behind a QB so savvy he could maximize my fairly unique skill set while minimizing my physical deficieicnes in a league all to hung up on measurables. Then I would have instructed my idiot agent to get me the best deal he could from that team when they approached me to sign an extension 2 years early in 2005 after my hero got me the ball so many times in back to back championship games a genius coach and staff and ownership guided us to that people were mentioning my sorry name and Jerry Rice's in the same friggin' sentance. And I would now be busting my hump to live up to that deal even at the risk of outperforming it so that in 2009 when that extension was running out I would be in a position to sign my retire as part of a Patriots all time greatest QB/WR tandem deal or quietly take my bling filled resume on the road in FA at 29-30 for my third bite of the contract apple knowing there would still one day be a retirement ceremony for my family to attend in Foxboro.
But since I am not really the humble guy I try to project myself to be but rather an ego driven greedy little heathen who doesn't deserve to play with guys like Brady and Seymour and Bruschi and Harrison or for a HOF HC and the best ownership in the league, I am trying to shoot my way out of town while hiding behind my inexperienced agents skirts.
Lobster - Neither Brady nor Seymour had their rookie deals torn up. Seymour is playing out his 6th season of that deal this year albeit with a new deal in place BEGINNING in 2007 with a $6.6M portion of his bonus payable sometime this season. Same deals they offered to Branch with $4M in bonus payable this year to feed his family. Who knows what might have transpired if the countered a detailed written contract with more than a flippant offer to honor their existing deal if the team gave up all it's leverage.
And Branch had no escaltors left in his contract because it's in it's final year. He had $3M he could have earned over the first 4 seasons but he only managed $500K. Boo freakin' hoo. Same thing happened to most of Richard's escalators because they were tied to games played and he missed several in his last couple of seasons. Yet somehow he managed to resist the insult impulse and re-sign here. And a pro bowler who actually had measurably wildly out performed his rookie contract waited a whole year based on nothing but a small salary advance and a promise to talk after the season. And then he signed a short term extension for the most AAV money paid to a DL and ignored the fact that if you divided it by his remaining $2M season on his rookie deal he wasn't really the highest paid at his position by AAV even though he could legitimately make a case he deserved to be. But his family was certainly taken care of for generations to come should his knees not hold up past 30, and he retained the right to chase the $$$ in 2010 if they do.
Brady said this week that if you want to be here because you value winning and playing for this HC and with these teamates and for this ownership and fan base then you decide how much you need and not how much you want because everybody wants more. He cited Seymour and Bruschi and Harrison and Troy along with others who took a little less than they might have hoped for to remain a part of something special. Deion doesn't really care where he plays which means it's time for him to go. Sooner or later really matters not. I think now even his teamates understand that. The toothy grin was all shuck and jive BS. He'll never see the end of any deal he signs with another team IMO, because he doesn't know what special is because what happens here is all he's ever known. Wait 'til he works for a HC and GM who owe him nada who publicly finger point to save their own butts. When all is said and done he will become a sour footnote in Patriots history.
At least Adam left quietly and with dignity - regardless of where he went. Branch is trying to tear down the fabric of this team on his way out the door. My money is on the Patriots carrying the day when all is said and done. And Brady adding Branch to his collection of friends who don't seem any happier once they leave.