Burton Just talked to Branch (merged)

Re: Branch "But I have a family to take care of" defense

Willie55 said:

How is he helping his family by losing money in fines? Nice example he's setting for his kids.

He has virtually no leverage in this matter. Does he not see this?

I'm actually starting to feel sorry for him. He's not smart enough to make a decision in this and he's listening to Chayut, who is only looking out for himself.

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Hey now,
20 Million can't go as far as it used to!

Hell I remember back when bread cost....

Oh never mind

Maybe it is time we move past Deion..I would LOVE to see him back, but I just do not know whether that is happening..the team is solid and in a way I think the team is sort of short changed with all the attention of the Twig.. This team will only be better with Deion or another vet wideout. If he wishes to be part of it, its time he comes out of the stands and gets back on the field..if he wishes to keep laughing, the bud\s may leave without him. I have accepted the fact that he is gone..sooner or later.

Re: Burton Just talked to Branch

brady2brown said:

http://cbs4boston.com/

The whole interview, more than was on TV

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Thanks for posting that, I'd missed seeing it when it aired.

BTW, I'll be seriously p1ssed if the Pats give in to the situation in ANY way! IMO two factors are responsible for paving the way to this hold out. One was Big Sey's hold out last year. Even though you can't compare the players, and I thought overall Sey and the FO handled it well, it cracked open the door for similar action (see Branch). Two is the inflated value that comes with being awarded the MVP for onegame, yes, even the Super Bowl!
Hey Dieon, you need to man up on this one and dump your stupid agent, finish the contract you were so happy to get, continue playing with a team and a QB that makes the best of your qualities, and negotiate your new contract at the proper time as set out by the union that you belong to. It's beyond stupid to say you're looking to take care of your family as you get fined 14,000 daily, reject a good contract offer and refuse to negotiate further. The Ty Law crown has been passed to you kid!

How different are these guys???

"He loves the game and he loves to play. He doesn’t play for anything but to win.†-Rodney about Seau

“I’ll do what’s best for me.†- branch about himself


Pretty crazy. While I recognize they are at totally different points in their careers, the outlooks have not changed. Even though Seau was among the best (If not THE best) at his position in the league, he wasn't a big "me" player and he never made outragous demands of his team. Obviously that quote doesn't mean Seau would play for free. It just means he wasn't out to mug his team. I'm sure he expected to be adequately compensated.

Look at db. Not among the best in the league, and look how he's acting. Don't get me wrong, he's a great WR, but he's not the best. The Patriots deal (that's been reported) absolutely compensates him. I don't know how much his agent is charging him, but with what the Pats have reportedly offered, he should have enough left over to take care of his family too!

When db says the team needs to do what's best for them, that means they pay what a player is worth. The team is smart enough not to dig a hole and start handing out money like it's candy. That's how a winning team is built.

By the way, I would be very happy if db played for the Pats again, just like I would be very happy if we had got Ty Law for a reasonable price.

Not all players can have the "Patriots" attitude. db was a great WR for us before and he can be again, and the team will be better with him playing.

I absolutely don't want a team full of people with db's character, but we have enough high character people on the team that I don't think having some "me" players on it would hurt us.

Considering the sides haven't spoken in months (Geez, Burton, ya think ya might asked Branch if his people are talking to the Pats) just exactly where does DB's confidence that a deal will get done come from? I'm thinking outer space at this point.

That feed my family crap really stinks but how shortsighted is Branch being? If he loses this entire season's worth of pay and is franchised until he's eventually traded he will lose TWO YEARS worth of a new contract and bonus money. Just exactly how is he ever going to get those two years back? The math just does jive Deion. He must know by now that if he comes back this year at all it will be for the last year of his original deal, there will not be any extra money now that he's tested the Patriots in public.

Deion, you're agent is a fool and you're a bigger fool for listening to him. Dude, you know BB far better than your agent does. Do you really believe BB is going to cave after all this time? Do you really want to be known as a malcontent, me first player? You better make up your mind, today.

You people are brutal. I recall a lot of you turning on Seymour last year too. Some people stating he wasn't all that. The Patriots need Branch. Really, they do.

Funny - the players accept that it is a business. The fans do not.

Garbanza said:

You people are brutal.

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sometimes the truth is brutal....

Garbanza said:

You people are brutal. I recall a lot of you turning on Seymour last year too. Some people stating he wasn't all that. The Patriots need Branch. Really, they do.

Funny - the players accept that it is a business. The fans do not.

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They found a way to win a championship without him on the team in 2001. Are you trying to say that BB has forgotten how to coach? He found a way to coach this team to it's first Championship without either Branch or Givens on this team in 2001. Are you trying to say that he is now incapable of doing that?

IMHO, there are 4 players that are important for the success of this team.
Richard Seymour
Tom Brady
Teddy Bruschi
Rodney Harrison.
We have yet to see what it's like to try to win without Brady on the field. Thank God. But last year we got a taste of what it was like to try to win without Seymour, Bruschi and Harrison on the field. In a word, it was ugly.
We couldn't stop the run and our secondary was a mess. Thank God Seymour and Bruschi came back. We all saw the difference in our run D when they came back.
IT took practically the entire season to find someone who was capable of stabilizing our Secondary after Rodney went down.
Thank God we found Artrell Hawkins, he stabilized the secondary enough to make it serviceable. Before he got here, Back up Quarterbacks were picking our secondary apart.
In 2004, Law and Poole went down and Samuel, and Gay became our starting corners. Harrison held that secondary together. We all saw how bad that secondary was without him.

As for Branch, we made it to the playoffs in 2003 while he was in and out of the line up with an injury, in 2004 he missed almost the entire season and we still got to the playoffs. So how much do we really need him to win?

Look, Branch is a very good player. No doubt. But he's no Richard Seymour, Tom Brady, Teddy Bruschi or Rodney Harrison. WE NEED THOSE GUYS TO WIN. How about giving Brady some credit? Without him we wouldn't have made it to the playoffs last year. Brady put this team on his back/arm and carried us to the playoffs with hardly any running game to speak of.

Don't get me wrong I would love to see him back in the lineup. He will most definately make our team better. However, I have faith in BB and his ability to coach, and I have faith in Brady and his ability to lead this offense. The 2006 Patriots will win their fair share. With or without Branch, IMHO.

Garbanza said:

You people are brutal. I recall a lot of you turning on Seymour last year too. Some people stating he wasn't all that. The Patriots need Branch. Really, they do.

Funny - the players accept that it is a business. The fans do not.

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I accept it's a business. The Pat's have reportedly offered two respectable offers of which Branch deems "insulting". Branch and Co. don't counter, just won't negotiate. In business you move on, prepare for other alternatives. You don't cave in and create a situation where your team can be held hostage to any player who feels "disrespected". This team will do just fine with out Branch for 10weeks,(more time in the spot light for our TE's and RB's), will essentially get his services for free after that and can franchise him next year if they choose. Sounds like good business to me! By the way I don't think I'd be going to the track with The Twig any time soon, he can't seem to see the horses for the bright colored jockeys!

I highly doubt that. If Branch re-signs or is franchised, he will play for us, and play well for us, and Patriots nation will still love him.

To say Branch will be a different player to you is an over-reaction, IMO.

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Garbanza said:

You people are brutal. I recall a lot of you turning on Seymour last year too. Some people stating he wasn't all that. The Patriots need Branch. Really, they do.

Funny - the players accept that it is a business. The fans do not.

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Players need to fight for their money-no doubt about it.

There needs to be a line though. There are things that Branch could do to show he really wants a deal with THIS TEAM. Obviously he's been brainwashed and doesn't care. His agents don't care either. We're all sick of this. He couldn't have waited 1 more year?

I think Deion is one one of the better WR's in the league BUT After watching some film over the last couple of years -I'm not really impressed. I like Troy Brown better. I was shocked he got the MVP for the SB that year.

We spread the ball. Tom loves Deion especially BUT his methods of holding out are hurting the team and we just can't go on like this. I want a divorce.

If Deion fires his agent, hires a new one, and gets a new deal done in the next two weeks, will all of you still hate him!?!?!?

He hired his agent to represent him, to do the work for him. Obviously Chayut is doing a horrible job, but we need to stop attributing *all* of these recent boneheaded actions to Branch.

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maverick4 said:

If Deion fires his agent, hires a new one, and gets a new deal done in the next two weeks, will all of you still hate him!?!?!?

He hired his agent to represent him, to do the work for him. Obviously Chayut is doing a horrible job, but we need to stop attributing *all* of these recent boneheaded actions to Branch.

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We attribute it to Branch because if he didn't agree with what his agent is doing, he could either flat out tell him to get it done even if it means taking a step back on their demands or he could flat out fire him. The fact that he hasn't done either tells me that he's just as dillusional as his POS agent.

I am curious how he thinks a deal will get done if neither side has spoken since before training camp. Unless maybe he is talking about next offseason.

I feel pretty confident neither Branch nor his agent will intitiate contact.

And I am overwhelmingly confident the Pats will not.

Seems to me both sides have just agreed to meet back up in week 10.

First, he never said he needed to "feed his family".
Second, most of us will not make multi-millions for our salary, but, most athletes do. Stop comparing with what you make and what an athlete makes. If he feels he's way underpaid, and has a career ending injury in training camp, then I guess we could say, well, we never made a million in a year. Too bad for the guy, then we move on to who takes his place in the line-up. I didn't read anything disturbing in what he said in that interview, but looking at a lot of these threads maybe I should re-read the interview. My hope is that they negotiate and he suits up for the first game. Then next year we can have this same conversation concerning someone else, c'est la vie.

maverick4 said:

If Deion fires his agent, hires a new one, and gets a new deal done in the next two weeks, will all of you still hate him!?!?!?

He hired his agent to represent him, to do the work for him. Obviously Chayut is doing a horrible job, but we need to stop attributing *all* of these recent boneheaded actions to Branch.

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I do not hate him today.

If he fires his agent, he is in essense running up the white flag, but throwing his agent under the bus in order to save face. That is what an agent is for, he talks so that Deion doesn't get himself into too much trouble, and if it is time for someone to fall on their sword, the agent is the guy for that.

In anycase, the patriots are not going to budge until he comes back to work. I think this commentary is more about the fact that the offense is running well without him and he is feeling the strain.

This is where the FO really has the leverage. With the current track record, the Krafts are going to back thier play, thier jobs are safe, and they don't give a damn about the media. They know that the media, fans, advertisers, etc. only care about Wins and Loses. And they are confident that they can win without Deion. They have an entire organization dedicated to make there decisions come out alright.

Deion is essentially down to himself and his agent. Why does he bring up still talking with his teammates, because it gives him a feeling of security that he is not totally alone in this. But he is still feeling the pressure, from all sides. If the patriots win without him, then he can kiss any dreams of big pay-day good-bye.

Branch bit on ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2558415

14thDragon said:

And they are confident that they can win without Deion.

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This is my biggest concern. The Pats will have a good offense without Branch, but Branch is a 1000-yard receiver (998 last year) who has great rapport with Brady, is about to enter his prime as a professional, and has come through multiple times in big moments (not just the superbowl).

I don't feel comfortable with the other WR's we have and our WR depth. Chad Jackson will be great, but rookie WR's almost never have great seasons. I am definitely not on the Reche Caldwell bandwagon, and people are talking about 35-year-old Troy Brown being one of our starting receivers. It is imperative that we get Branch back on the team.

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