Are we all missing Deion's intention?

[mcbee]

It's been explained to you so I guess you just don't want to understand it. The franchise tag for WR in 2007 will be less than the signing and roster bonus money plus salary they have already offered him to play in 2007. A couple of million less. And if he has a 1000 yard season for the first time in his life in 2006 he will bring more than a 3 in trade. Could bring a late 1, or a high 2 and a swap for a higher 1, or a 2006 day one pick and a conditional pick that could be a first rounder in 2008....there are lots of things he could bring including another body at a position of value for us and a pick, all of which would be better than a compensatory tail end of the 3rd rounder.

I've heard that, but it's a stupid way to look at it.

So 7M is a bargain for a team because a signing bonus would be more. OK, what about the next year? The signing bonus doesn't get paid EVERY YEAR. The 7M for the franchisee DOES. So paying a big signing bonus lets you pay far lower than franchisee salaries in years 2,3 and 4 for example.

According to you, the Pats would be in a great position if they franchise him for 2 years or so. Why that's only 7-8M per year! And the signing bonus alone would be 10M or so. Yes, but averaged over the life of the contract the signing bonus and contract is most likely cheaper than continually franchising someone.

Similarly it's "Branch would be bummed at getting franchised b/c he would make less than the signing bonus". Duh, he gets both the franchise amount AND the signing bonus in the following year or an additional 8M the following year and THEN a huge signing bonus. Yeah, real bummed. There's risk in it, but he comes out ahead playing for one year at the huge franchise salary.

Paying a decent but not great player franchise level money seems stupid. And you can't necessarily get a 2nd or 1st draft pick. Given the level of money he thinks he deserves, it's unlikely any team could make a satisfactory deal for him. Which means they're not giving up a pick for a player they have to pay top FA money for anyway. So the Pats would get stuck with this malcontent for a modest 7M? Yeah, great deal.

What's next, franchise Graham? Why not? It's probably only 4-5M per year!

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Taildragger: If you can find any word 'evil' in what I said, then congratulations. What I said was that the agent has zero interest in resigning Branch to the Pats, and if Branch wants to remain a Patriot he had better seek different representation because Chayut aggressively burned his bridges with the Pats thru the media, while at the same time made zero attempts to actually negotiate with the Pats. Zero attempts to negotiate. ZERO.

If you don't think that Chayut has acted like an immature douche bag throughout this process, perhaps you should carefully re-examine the facts.

So I am holding on to a silly hope that Deion is not a bald faced liar, and that he actually intends to remain a Patriot. Thus, he needs a new agent, ASAP.

MgTeich: If I were Deion, it would not be a question about whether I want the franchise tag applied to me, which is a clear right of any team. The reason is because hopefully my head would not be so clouded by an agent, and instead of holding out, I would show up for work in an honorable manner and not spit in the face of the only team that could have made me Superbowl MVP.

The multi-million dollar extension is there for the taking. If Deion doesn't want it, then he simply needs to show up for work as he is obligated to under his contract, and as he has told us thru the media that he would. I am willing to give him until Sept. 2nd, as long as he is willing to pay the fine for his extended vacation. After that, he is a ungrateful traitor in my mind. If he was a better player, he would be making 3 million this year already. Not bad for a 2nd round pick who would have gone in the fifth round or so.

 

[lobster]

This could be a result of giving in to Seymour's hold-out last year and I predict the Pat's won't give in. However not having Branch around means more rep's for the other receivers, who need the work a lot more than Branch does.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I wish PATs could sue Branch for breach of contract and tie the settlement to future earnings. That would discourage players from not abiding by the contracts they signed.

They probably can given the right circumstances. Employment contracts are at will but usually the employer can recover damages to find an equivalent replacement. Sports law is a little bit wonky though as the drafts are clearly unconstitutional normally.

To find the answer to this you'd probably need to know your CBA pretty well. As people are free to negotiate away their rights in exchange for benefits, ie $$$.

At this stage though talking lawsuit is unlikely to garner cooperation from Branch who does have a right to not show up for work, but he will be subject to the league fines.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I've heard that, but it's a stupid way to look at it.

So 7M is a bargain for a team because a signing bonus would be more. OK, what about the next year? The signing bonus doesn't get paid EVERY YEAR. The 7M for the franchisee DOES. So paying a big signing bonus lets you pay far lower than franchisee salaries in years 2,3 and 4 for example.

According to you, the Pats would be in a great position if they franchise him for 2 years or so. Why that's only 7-8M per year! And the signing bonus alone would be 10M or so. Yes, but averaged over the life of the contract the signing bonus and contract is most likely cheaper than continually franchising someone.

Similarly it's "Branch would be bummed at getting franchised b/c he would make less than the signing bonus". Duh, he gets both the franchise amount AND the signing bonus in the following year or an additional 8M the following year and THEN a huge signing bonus. Yeah, real bummed. There's risk in it, but he comes out ahead playing for one year at the huge franchise salary.

Paying a decent but not great player franchise level money seems stupid. And you can't necessarily get a 2nd or 1st draft pick. Given the level of money he thinks he deserves, it's unlikely any team could make a satisfactory deal for him. Which means they're not giving up a pick for a player they have to pay top FA money for anyway. So the Pats would get stuck with this malcontent for a modest 7M? Yeah, great deal.

What's next, franchise Graham? Why not? It's probably only 4-5M per year!

John Abraham went from the JETS to the Falcons this year under a tag NY could not have afforded to pay him for a 1st round pick and a fat contract. They even had to bring Denver into the deal to make the picks work. And if they decide they cannot get value for him and for some reason don't want him at the franchise price they can pull the tag in June (as the Eagles did with Corey Simon in 2005) unless he signs it (which is unlikely since he wants to be a FA).

And I never said he'd be tagged for more than one season - I assume he'd be tagged and traded in 2007. But if not his salary this year plus $4M signing bonus plus $4M roster bonus due next March equals $9M (before 2007 salary is even paid). The franchise tag next season plus this years salary equals $8M.

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

And while math was never my favorite subject, because this year is not going away and may in fact cost Deion money to play for us, that 30 over the next 5 you tout is really 30 over 6 which equals guess what....$5M per which is the same as he'd get if he signed the deal in March - only he'd have already seen $4M of it. Is that you Jason?

It was more for illustrative purposes then solid numbers. He could end up getting less in FA then he would from the Pats, until it happens we won't know.

I still stand by my opinion that the table is unfairly tilted to the teams in contracts negoitiations in general, but thats just my opinion.

And no, I am not your hockey mask wearing friend

 

[TruthSeeker]

I say f*ck him. Let him rot. He was one of my favorite players, and now I can't stand the guy. I'd trade him for just about anything right about now, hell give me Suggs for him right now, lol.....just kidding. If he's not here by next week, I don't want him on the team. I applaud the Pats for what their doing, f*ck him. If he doesn't join the team, or costs them too much (in money or losses), I will boo him everytime he's on the field. He's no better than T.O. and Moss to me now. I just pray CJ can play the full season and catch 40-50 passes, Caldwell the same, then go to hell Deion !!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Don't know if anyone caught the beginning of Felger's show today but he had Don Banks on. He said that a former Pats player whose teams camp he visited last week said he has remained close to Deion and has been talking to him about his situation all along. He advised him that a TC holdout would not work with this organization and if he expected to get what he wanted the only way would be a full blown holdout through week 10. He basically told Deion he best think hard on it because unless he was willing to go all the way there was no point holding out at all. He said that when they last spoke Deion appeared to be totally committed to a full week 10 holdout. Wouldn't say who the player is, but the logical guess would be Willie. Could be Lawyer or Woody or even Patten. Not likely it was Givens, sounded more like it was a vets vet.

Banks then said from what he has heard there has been no movement at all on either side. Felger asked him what he thought of the offer and he said if it is in fact a top 15 offer then he doesn't think the Pats are at all off the mark on Branch's value. Talked about how his value to the Pats is more than it will be to anyone else in FA because of the type of receiver he is (or isn't I guess) and he said all too often these guys discount what part of their success is related to the QB they are fortunate to play with. When they move on and try to re-establish themselves with some other QB they often don't produce nearly as well and things can unravel for them.

He also touched on Maroney before moving on to the broader NFL (which I didn't hear). But he said coming out of college there were some questions about whether Maroney would be the type of immediate impact RB who could be integrated into an NFL team quickly or if he would be something of a project. He said after seeing him Friday night he thinks he's going to be better than some imagined a lot sooner.

It was interesting to hear a national read on both.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Good stuff Mo, thank you.

 

[the taildragger]

Taildragger: If you can find any word 'evil' in what I said, then congratulations. What I said was that the agent has zero interest in resigning Branch to the Pats, and if Branch wants to remain a Patriot he had better seek different representation because Chayut aggressively burned his bridges with the Pats thru the media, while at the same time made zero attempts to actually negotiate with the Pats. Zero attempts to negotiate. ZERO.

If you don't think that Chayut has acted like an immature douche bag throughout this process, perhaps you should carefully re-examine the facts.

So I am holding on to a silly hope that Deion is not a bald faced liar, and that he actually intends to remain a Patriot. Thus, he needs a new agent, ASAP.

MgTeich: If I were Deion, it would not be a question about whether I want the franchise tag applied to me, which is a clear right of any team. The reason is because hopefully my head would not be so clouded by an agent, and instead of holding out, I would show up for work in an honorable manner and not spit in the face of the only team that could have made me Superbowl MVP.

The multi-million dollar extension is there for the taking. If Deion doesn't want it, then he simply needs to show up for work as he is obligated to under his contract, and as he has told us thru the media that he would. I am willing to give him until Sept. 2nd, as long as he is willing to pay the fine for his extended vacation. After that, he is a ungrateful traitor in my mind. If he was a better player, he would be making 3 million this year already. Not bad for a 2nd round pick who would have gone in the fifth round or so.

???????????????????????????????

"evil" was my word (if it had been attributed I would've made that clear) but why not reexamine your own posts which are filled with name-calling..."IMMATURE DOUCHE BAG," congratulations indeed.

Sorry to be a smartass but the tactic you're refering to is called "stonewalling," and our FO has mastered it...don't pretend we're not as rightfully stubborn as the douche bag...and why not? we're still weeks from the regular season...why should either side cave at this point????

my advice is twofold:

1. take a deep breath. DEION WILL COME BACK AND BARRING INJURY WILL HAVE A GREAT SEASON

2. try not to make the business of the league so personal...Deion is a great guy -- nothing here changes that. Forget about that "obligation" crap -- if the Pats want to enforce the contract instead of reworking it they can do so by fining the hell out of him, that's their leverage obviously -- but there's no "obligation" to show up, unless you're making some kind of moral argument -- they can't put him in jail if he doesn't want to attent camp.

I'm a little sick of hearing well-paid players like Jerry Rice -- who did not play for peanuts like Deion and who never played a day of his prime in the free agency era -- make pronouncements on the business of a league that is structurally 180 degrees from the prison it was when he played...if he'd played today, Rice would've been on the first trolley out of Frisco.
.................................................................................

aside: felger rant

The hysteria is starting to crack me up.

It's week one of the preseason folks...we're already jumping ship.

Felger doesn't think we're being "aggressive" enough in "stacking our roster" (the league actually imposes limits to the # of players you can sign), why?...because they're not going after loser backup JAY FIEDLER (LMAO). Let me repeat, Felger wants to demote Cassel behind JAY FIEDLER based on a clear case of first-half jitters (which thankfully evaporated).

what Matt needs are MORE reps, not to be relegated to third-string hell...enough knee-jerk reactionary bs. Even if he never starts a regular season game his development still pays off in a trade (parlay 7th rounder into a potential first rounder)...but NOT if we moronically bring in Fiedler...Felger is under the delusion that the season isn't over without Twelve.

I do not want my team in the custody of Jay Fiedler for any length of time.

Cassel has occasionally shown an almost Elwayesque flair...give him time, he's played about three games! He is not TB and never will be, but he's going to be better than Fiedler and, despite his inexperience, isn't far off that mark right now.

How does Felger keep a straight face acting like he's a better judge of talent than BB? Last preseason it was all about Tom and Deion's injuries because they were held out of the preseason...EXHIBITION GAMES...ROOKIE EVALUATION GAMES...games which are needlessly risky for valuable starters.

prediction: if we run the ball like we did in '04 we win the prize...mark it down. The return for the regular season of two borderline HoFers to the heart of the defense could possibly have an impact on the defense .

just be grateful we don't depend on a guy who reports to camp dressed for the tour de france.

 

[spacecrime]

Don't count on Branch being here before week 11.

I heard Felger, and he has selective memory. he made a big deal out of "the pats doing everything plossible to ensure they had the best players in 2003 and 2004."

Evidently he forgot that in 2003 he was highly critical of the pats cutting Milloy and "giving up on their season." He made the same yapping sounds about Ted Wasington, Woody, etc, and now is making them aobut AV, WMG, DG. To be fair, he isn't the only media numbie saying this, but if the Pats do well this year, next year the numbies will all be complaining that the Pats are letting Graham and Samuel go (yes, after they leave, Graham and Samuel will aotomatically become indespensible). They will say nice things about THIS year in order to trash next year.

God, they make me tired.