Tomase on Branch - for you Tomase bashers

[Seymour93]

wonder who the player laughing and joking was. My money is on Hobbs.

I remember reading on here that McGinest had leadership problems. That could be exhibit A on why he was not re-signed.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Mo, how do you know Branch wants to be paid like a top 5 receiver? For that matter how do any of you know any contract numbers? I've heard here that "Deion's rejected this.." or "Deion wants x amount.." I'm pretty good friends with a reporter on the Pats beat (not Tomase). As I understand it, Branch wants to be paid somewhere between what David Givens and Reggie Wayne got. What's wrong with that? He's definitely earned it. Neither of the aforementioned guys are Super Bowl MVP's. Deion is. This offense will be hard pressed to function at peak efficiency w/o Branch. He's not that easy to replace.

As for you questioning his loyalty to the team, where do you get the right? NFL players play for the money!! Try to get Tom Brady out there for 16 games of taking hits (not to mention the grueling offseason workouts) just for the love of the game - fergitaboutit!!

I know because his idiot agent decided to whine about it to Borges. The Patriots have offered him 3 or 5 year deals, his option, that average $6M per year by the teams estimate and "more like $5.6M" by his agents estimate. Givens is being paid $4.8M a year to be a #1WR for a team foolish enough to overpay him. Wayne is being paid $6.5M to be the Colts #1 when Harrison hits the wall. He has consistently outproduced Branch while serving as Indy's #2 and Polian is willing to overpay him as that because that is what Polian's model does - overpay elite talent and skimp on the supporting cast. That is why Bill says he is not responsible for what other GM's pay. He's won 3 Lombardi's doing it his way which in part hinges on not overpaying for talent which allows him to acquire a more accomplished level of depth.

Nobody is asking Deion to play for free. He's under contract - a contract he claimed just 6 weeks ago he was going to honor like a man - that contained 5th year incentives, one of whch he made which will double his salary to $1M+ in 2006. He's actually been offered a deal precisely between what Givens and Wayne got - and apparently that wasn't what he wanted.

His agent indicated to Borges it would be coersion to ask Dieon to agree to a deal that pays him $500K his less than the what the current Franchise tag pays - $6.1M - when that would have him locked up for less than the projected 2007 franchise tag of upwards of $7M going forward. The franchise tag IS the average of the 5 highest paid players at the position. Apparently he wants a deal somewhere between this year's franchise tag value of $6.1 and next years projected $7M per year. That money can be better spent going forward. Like on a top 5 WR.

 

[I'm Ron Borges?]

Mike...No he isn't...at all...I know that..bt those grab the Benjamins mentality is more like Ty..it's not Branch..I have met Deion at camp in 04 and 05 after his MVP SB..the same guy..a great guy....which makes it all rather difficult as what is at work. Turning down $5.5 to 6 mil..wow!! And bing on a team that will challenge for SBs... THAT I do not understand...yes agents are out there..but how much damage is done in the process between player and team?? The agent trashes the team...he is Branch's agent..if he doesn't speak for Branch..then who??? I undesrtand the difference..but it's a diffucult tight rope...

I think you make a good point. I think Branch is getting bad advice. I was listening to the guys on PFW last week and they all said he's probably genuinly the nicest guy on the team and it's not in his nature to hold out. Granted, every player wants to get paid but I think his agent is taking advantage of him and leading him down a potentially dangerous path. Let's just hope that Branch comes to his senses before that path runs out.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

The Thomas tidbit, despite the kiss to Kirwin, was the one I found worth reading.

 

[Brady-To-Branch]

From PFT...

POSTED 9:22 a.m. EDT; UPDATED 10:16 a.m. EDT, July 25, 2006

UPSHAW SHOULD UPSHUT

We pointed out on Sunday the curious decision of NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw to dump on the New England Patriots for their history of using five-year deals for second-round draft picks.

"That was New England's doing," Upshaw told Ron Borges of the Boston Globe. "They were the ones who started forcing these guys to sign long-term deals. Other teams followed and it got ridiculous. These kids had no leverage. They were being forced to give away free agency."

The comments were made in specific reference to Patriots receiver Deion Branch, a second-round pick in 2002 who is clamoring for a new contract even though he is still committed through the 2006 season.

We were pretty sure that the Patriots didn't blaze the trail in this regard, so we put on our "research dork" hat and tried to track down the hard evidence as to who got the ball rolling.

As it turns out, the first team to force second-round picks to sign five-year deals was the Raiders.

Stop and think about that one. Upshaw was a long-time Raider. ("Once a Raider, always a Raider.") So instead of laying the blame on the team that launched this tactic, Upshaw goes out of his way to criticize a team that merely followed the trend.

Here's what we've learned. The Raiders signed second-round picks to five-year deals in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 (with two separate picks), and 2005.

In 2003 and 2004, the team's second-round picks signed six-year deals.

The Patriots, on the other hand, didn't begin using five-year deals for second-round picks until 1999, a full four years after the Raiders.

Another intriguing connection here is that Upshaw's agent, Tom Condon, was fired by one of the Patriots' first-round picks a couple of years ago because the team insisted on six-year contracts for players taken late in round one, and Condon refused to have his name tied to such a deal. So perhaps Condon, who is generally used to folks doing whatever he wants them to, has been whispering sweet somethings into Upshaw's ears regarding Condon's contempt for the Pats, given that specific incident.

So it was reckless (in our view) for Upshaw to spout off that the Patriots "started forcing these guys to sign long-term deals." We're not saying he should have dumped on the Raiders -- he merely should not have blamed New England for something that the Raiders had done.

But facts rarely get in the way of a good sound bite. Borges, a confirmed Pats-hater, wanted to stir the pot on the Deion Branch deal, and Upshaw was happy to oblige.

Despite all of that, we firmly believe that no team should be chastised for taking advantage of the rules that were collectively bargained by the NFL and the union that Upshaw runs. If five-year deals for second-round picks were a problem, Upshaw had plenty of chances before 2006 to insist on a change to the CBA. But he didn't.

As a result, the primary responsibility for the predicament in which Deion Branch now finds himself falls squarely in Upshaw's lap.

 

[Bostonian1962]

It's become popular of late on this board to bash the Herald's John Tomase. Although I never quite agreed with the criticism of him, we're all entitled to our opinions. So it's interesting to see his blog today, with an anecdote that reminds us why we need to sign Deion Branch. Tomase deserves his props for this one.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/patriots/


On the subject of Branch, let's hope the Pats soften their hard line and bend a bit. The cap room is there. No need to make him the highest paid receiver, but at the end of the year, we all know someone will throw a big pile of money at him. I agree with Tomase when he says "those kinds of players are rarer than you might think."

I agree with you about Tomase. He's fine. As for the Pats and Branch, they have offered him both a 3 and 5 year contract, at $6M per. If that info is accurate, than he is playing big time hard ball.

 

[Bostonian1962]

Firstly..this already was talked about on another thread about Deion...Frankly, while it may be a good piece,,I have to wonder about a receiver NOT in the elite (top ten..) ..and turning his nose up at 5.5 to 6 mil a year...Is that a Patriot's type player??? seems to me that's more like a Ty Law...THAT offer is fair and generous.. Why is it all of a sudden these DB stories are in the paper??? Between this and the agent's whining in Borges's columns...it's all about DB...almost like a mini-Ty Law saga...I would have thought a lot more about this with different timing.

Now that's a good post. Agree completely!

 

[VJCPatriot]

Try to get Tom Brady out there for 16 games of taking hits (not to mention the grueling offseason workouts) just for the love of the game - fergitaboutit!!

We're not talking about asking Branch to play for free. The Pats are offering 5.5 to 6M per season. Considering Branch's numbers don't put him in the top 10 of NFL receivers it seems like a fair offer. How much MORE does he want though? If he wants too much more than that I can see why the Pats are unwilling to pay.

 

[DaBruinz]

Mo, how do you know Branch wants to be paid like a top 5 receiver? For that matter how do any of you know any contract numbers? I've heard here that "Deion's rejected this.." or "Deion wants x amount.." I'm pretty good friends with a reporter on the Pats beat (not Tomase). As I understand it, Branch wants to be paid somewhere between what David Givens and Reggie Wayne got. What's wrong with that? He's definitely earned it. Neither of the aforementioned guys are Super Bowl MVP's. Deion is. This offense will be hard pressed to function at peak efficiency w/o Branch. He's not that easy to replace.

As for you questioning his loyalty to the team, where do you get the right? NFL players play for the money!! Try to get Tom Brady out there for 16 games of taking hits (not to mention the grueling offseason workouts) just for the love of the game - fergitaboutit!!

Last I looked, 6.25 Million (numbers coming from Ron Borges via Chayut, Branch's agent) is closer to Wayne's salary than it is to Givens avg. salary.

SB MVP doesn't mean a whole lot when you aren't putting up #1 receiver 3's. A #1 receiver should be averaging more than 4-5 TDs a year.

Also, how many of Wayne's years have been over 1000 yards as a #2 receiver? How many of Branch's have been over 1000 yards as the #1 receiver for the Pats?

 

[DaBruinz]

Just something to think about. Branch is currently set to make $2917 a day for the next full year (365 days). The Patriots offered Branch a raise that would pay him between $15068 to $16438 a day for the next full year (365 days).

Can someone please explain to me WHY I should feel sorry for him or think that he deserves to be paid more than the $16438 a day for the next full year? Please explain to me how a guy who is averaging a little over 4 TDs a season as the Patriots #1 receiver is worth more than $16438 a day.

 

[maverick4]

Can someone please explain to me WHY I should feel sorry for him etc etc

It's not about feeling sorry for him.

All pros live in a world of inflated salaries. Are you consistent in hating on ANY professional athlete who asks for more money, or do you do it on a case by case basis?

.

 

[DaBruinz]

It's not about feeling sorry for him.

All pros live in a world of inflated salaries. Are you consistent in hating on ANY professional athlete who asks for more money, or do you do it on a case by case basis?

.

1st off, I don't hate him or any pro athelete. Pretty wild arsed assumption on your part there. Do you always make those sorts of assumptions?

2ndly, There is a right way and a wrong way to go about salary negotiations. Seymour did it the correct way. Kept his mouth shut. Kept his agent muzzled. Didn't try to negotiate in the media.

3rd, Chayut is Branch's agent. He represents Branch. If Chayut makes dumb arse statements, its as if they are coming from Branch. The fact that over the last 4 days, Chayut has felt the need to totally disrespect the Patriots in the media by using that moron Borges as his mouth piece tells me that Chayut is just stupid and that Branch isn't that much smarter.

4th, I expected Branch to be a man of his word. 6 weeks ago, Branch said he'd be a man and honor his contract. Last year, in the ESPNtheMag interview, Branch said it wasn't about the money. It was about providing for his kids. The fact that he feels that he's being treated unfairly and that an offer of 18.75 million over 3 years with 9.75 million coming in the 1st year year is being treated unfairly shows me that Branch has no perspective. The fact that he has said, through his agent, that he intends to hold out, says that he is a liar.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Branch lied, people cried.