deon branch

LeRoy · Kick Asser

deon branch

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

Patriots have already decided he will never play for them again. After that it was about 2 things:

1. Screwing up Branch's situation to the point where no other guy on the roster wants anything to do with holding out ever again. Paying Seymour last year is what caused this mess in the first place and be DAMMED if they were going to "keep that ball rolling" by rewarding Branch for holding out as well.

2. Trying to get some value for a 2nd round pick that won a SB MVP.

That said Branch is not worth what he is asking to the Patriots, maybe to somebody else, but not to the Pats, thus they know he will never be of any value to them again. After that it was about "proving the point" more than anything.

Vanni9283 · Head Dick

Here's another obvious sign....they got Doug Gabriel in a trade with Oakland!!!

causeiambetta · Half A Man

as a pats fan, this is really sad

the richard seymour thing happened behind closed doors and i think if Branch had a better agent, none of this would have happened.

I personally don't think Branch is worth the money that he's asking for, he's fragile. If a team was paying what he wants, he better make it through the season. i dunno, how much of it was Tom Brady?

Patriots will get a 2nd rounder....but not a first like they want. oh well. I kinda hope that Charles Rogers comes on board. Harrison, Brady, Dillon and Troy Brown can be good influences on the guy, pipe dream yeah.

twanne · Kick Asser

Remember guys, this stuff goes back to Troy Brown! Remember he who put personal and contract goals to the side to play BOTH WAYS only to get reamed with no vaseline by the pats front office? I dare say that both Brown and Branch had EARNED some "thank you" money! Now the pats have learned that other teams are willing to pay what Branch EARNED in NE, so they end up looking like cheap, lying, two-faced backstabbers!!!

Burgh1979 · Head Dick

The Patsies dont need to worry, Bill Belichick "Coaching Genius" could win the SB with a High School football team...

Backinthesaddleagain · Head Dick

Branch is currently under contract. He is NOT a free agent. Where does it say the Pats are obligated to do ANYTHING?

This came up because Deion, a second round pick, signed a 5 year contract. He is still in that rookie contract. David Givens, a latter round pick, signed a four year contract that very same year. David Givens became a free agent and got a big contract from the Titans. Deion is peaved and jealous because Givens is cashing in NOW in free agency and he can't.

He should just play out the rookie contract...that HE signed...and go into free agency next year when he's eligible. OR he could accept the contract extension the Pats have offered.....a very reasonable offer by the way.

Ego, greed and jealousy are what's in play here. Maybe I'm old-fashioned....but I believe when you sign a contract you should abide by it.

saturn11 · Head Dick

The Seahawks / Jets offers give Branch has a pretty high yardstick of what his market value will be, regardless of whether or not their offers were "sincere".

A real man would get the hell on the field and prove that he's worth all that money (or more).

That said, Branch isn't the only one guilty of overvaluing Branch. The Patsies want a first round pick as compensation? Aint gonna happen.

LeRoy · Kick Asser

I guess my concern, is " have the Pat's created a problem similar to the TO debacle, by allowing Deon to organize a trade and then not follow through with it"?

The Pats are playing hardball,but that is their right, but will this divide the lockerroom and casue the team to struggle this year becasue of it?

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

LeRoy wrote:

I guess my concern, is " have the Pat's created a problem similar to the TO debacle, by allowing Deon to organize a trade and then not follow through with it"?

The Pats are playing hardball,but that is their right, but will this divide the lockerroom and casue the team to struggle this year becasue of it?

No, he isn't there to actually cause a problem. That could change if he reports and starts gripin but for now there isn't a problem for the team, just the team's lawyers.

.

twanne,

THANK YOU MONEY?!!!?!?!??!! I hope you are ****in' jokin! Thank you money in a salary cap league.. are you out of your mind? There is no such thing as "thank you money".

causeiambetta · Half A Man

you know why Belicheck/Pioli/Kraft are the best combination in the business? No 'thank you money.' No love, no emotion. They look into the future as well as the past

you know all these teams going crazy with free agency, expecting the TV contracts to keep going up and up? Well guess what happens if the cable people push back or worse the cable 'a la carte' bill passes? Cap crash.

Patriots got to resign Tom brady and a bunch of other talent. Patriots will be competing year in and year out.

Frankly, most pats fans i know have already moved on, we don't want Branch. Bethel Johnson is available, he came from our system, we got a young clone of Troy Brown in Bam Childress, for the first time in years pats have a tall physical wide reciever in Gabriel

Yeah, they don't have the most talented wideouts, and theres $12M in cap money sitting around. But we got the best QB, awesome RB corps and even better TE crew. Plus this is the most talented offensive line on the tam since Damien Woody left. The offense will click. the real problem is the linebacking core in the defense.

Branch can go to hell, or go to another team and get injured. Bethal Johnson, Vinitiari (wrong spelling i know) and Givens have all gotten injured after leaving the Patriots. And all three were sturdier than Branch ever was

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

Thank you money is paying Brett Farve to play into his 60's while he destroys the interception record. This is New England not Green Bay.

Teams that pay guys in future contracts for past deeds are doomed to failure, plain and simple. Seymour got the money because he has potential to be as good or better over the duration of his new contract. The Patriots think that 2005 was the exception for Branch and that he is quite prone to injury at his size (Brnach agrees and that is why he is holding out in the first place).

At the end of the day I will roll the dice for 06' and hope that Doug Gabriel and Chad Jackson become what they need to be in 07'. I figure that it is totally plausible for the Belichick/ Brady combo can win 1 more SB together (4 is possible 5 defies the odds).

It does not have to be this year. If we can draft in 07' to the level we did on 03' and this year then we will get that 4th ring sooner than later.

Even if that never happens 3 is fine by me.

User Name · Head Dick

Burgh1979 wrote:

The Patsies dont need to worry, Bill Belichick "Coaching Genius" could win the SB with a High School football team...

only if tom brady was the quarterback.

what did billy do in cleveland?

saturn11 · Head Dick

User Name wrote:

Burgh1979 wrote:

The Patsies dont need to worry, Bill Belichick "Coaching Genius" could win the SB with a High School football team...

only if tom brady was the quarterback.

what did billy do in cleveland?

in cleveland, his hands were tied [by an owner who already had plans to drive the trucks to baltimore]. it's not even close to a fair comparison.

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

saturn11 wrote:

User Name wrote:

Burgh1979 wrote:

The Patsies dont need to worry, Bill Belichick "Coaching Genius" could win the SB with a High School football team...

only if tom brady was the quarterback.

what did billy do in cleveland?

in cleveland, his hands were tied [by an owner who already had plans to drive the trucks to baltimore]. it's not even close to a fair comparison.

I agree..... and I think for that reason the comment works better as "As long as Belichick and Kraft are together". I think the surprising play of Matt Cassel suggests that Brady could POSSIBLY be replaced if he got a career ender, or left via the free agency.

The Pats would never let Brady walk away if they could help it, but I think that they could find a new QB if properly motivated.

Backinthesaddleagain · Head Dick

Brady's excellent play is only part of his value. He may come off all "Ahh shucks" and humble on TV and such. But on the field, in practice and in the locker room he is an absolutely ferrocious competitor that DEMANDS from his teammates their very best..... and will get in their face if he doesn't get it. They also see HIS determination and drive. He is ultra-prepared, knows the system and game plans better than anybody and exudes the confidence that becomes infectious to the team.

If Matt Cassel's play continues to improve he would become a very solid back-up. However, he would have light-years to go in terms of these other factors......and most likely would come up way short.

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

I was not trying to suggest that Cassel would be the guy. His play just demonstrates that NE can find a weak QB prospect and get him playing strong.

The idea is that Brady is a Once in a Lifer, but I am not 100% sure about that. I think BB and Kraft are the pivotal roles and players can be replaced. If not then we have to assume that the day Brady retires the Patriots will never again win the SB.

Backinthesaddleagain · Head Dick

JetBlackNinja wrote:

I was not trying to suggest that Cassel would be the guy. His play just demonstrates that NE can find a weak QB prospect and get him playing strong.

The idea is that Brady is a Once in a Lifer, but I am not 100% sure about that. I think BB and Kraft are the pivotal roles and players can be replaced. If not then we have to assume that the day Brady retires the Patriots will never again win the SB.

Agreed.

They hit gold with Brady.....but I would have confidence that Kraft/Belichek/Pioli could assemble more Superbowl teams without him.

twanne · Kick Asser

If the pats want a 1st rounder for their 2nd round super bowl mvp then they could pay the one they have and save some trouble. they should make up their minds, he's worth 1 or 2 first rounders but not worth paying? that's the two-faced part. Also, ANYTIME the teams feel a player has "underperformed" his contract, need extra cap space, want to sign a free agent, they have no problem going to the player to RENEGOTIATE their contract. why should'nt a player who "overperforms" his contract (2nd round pick, super bowl mvp) have the same luxury to renegotiate? either nobody honors anything or BOTH parties should honor the contract that was signed!

BTW, I see nobody argued the fact that troy brown got raped like he was somebodys prison b***h. So why would any pats player allow that to happen to them?

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

Branch isn't within his right to "hold out". There is no provision in the CBA for chosing not to play under your contract.

That said, he can show up week 10 and get franchised next year. If the Pats wanted him they would pay him, they paid Seymour, Brady, Dillon, and whoever they felt like keeping. They feel like Branch is small, injury prone, and has never broke a 1,000. At this point they are just screwing him so that other players don't try to follow his lead.

No player that ever played for the Pats had to "renegotiate" if they chose not too. Milloy decided against it and cashed in with Buffalo.

It's a business, and they are very good at it. Without even asking who your a fan of I can say "Better then your team". That is unless your team has won more than 3 Super Bowls recently.

twanne · Kick Asser

To be perfectly honest, I am a Bengirls fan, one of the few who wasn't mad at Dillon for going to the pats to get a ring. Anyway, I was trying to make the point that team ownership and management are just as guilty of not honoring signed contracts as the players. So if people want to talk about that aspect of the BUISNESS, remember that it goes both ways. If branch (or any player)did not have the RIGHT to hold out on a contract that was signed, then management does not have the RIGHT to try and change a contract that was signed.

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

Whatever, this is over and the Pats got the 1st rounder they wanted. For all the reasons I stated before (small, injury prone, vastly over-hyped) I think we made out like bandits.

I wish we had traded Law for a 1st too before he went south.

twanne · Kick Asser

The reason the pats made out like bandits on this deal is because they draft VERY well, so a late first round will at least be productive for them and a likely hof candidate if you look at their track record. btw, Law got screwed too, but 10 int's aint going south if you ask me.

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

twanne wrote:

The reason the pats made out like bandits on this deal is because they draft VERY well, so a late first round will at least be productive for them and a likely hof candidate if you look at their track record. btw, Law got screwed too, but 10 int's aint going south if you ask me.

The year he broke his foot he was causing a lot of trouble in the off-season, I thought we should try to trade him for a 1st, but we didn't. He came in, played 7 games and broke a foot. Never wore a Patriots uniform again. That is what I meant.

I think that the late 1st could be combined with our late 1st in order to move up, but that depends on who is there, and what we want I guess. It is nice to know that we have the ammo to move up if a great ILB is there.

twanne · Kick Asser

Right idea to draft and begin training Bruschi's replacement now. Come to think of it, even though belichick is from the parcells tree, a lot of what the pats do in terms of personnel reminds me of the 80's 49er system. Have players ready to step in and play like starters by drafting 2 years ahead of time. For instance, Dillon's got 2 good years left in him maybe, but maroney is already in place getting on the job training. smart, very smart.

Backinthesaddleagain · Head Dick

I think besides linebacker I'd love to see them go for a viscous-guided-missile-hitting maniac-initimidator strong safety. They have one just like that currently.....but Rodney is coming off a major knee blow-out and I believe he's now 34. I love the affect he has on the rest of the secondary.....his hitting and enthusiasm are infectious not to mention the intimidation he instills in receivers.

If James Sanders developes well, maybe they won't need to draft one. The book is still out on Sanders though.

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

Look when Rodney goes, that is gone. Forget replacing him. He is the greatest "big-play" safety in NFL history (the numbers back me up, so don't go getting yourself beat-down debating the point).

When he is gone, we will put someone there, but they won't be anywhere near Rodney's league.

causeiambetta · Half A Man

patriots have been drafting safety alot these last few years. I would think they'd lay off a bit and draft linebacker and wide reciever.

JetBlackNinja · Head Dick

The thinking is that the LBs Belichick could see working out are always gone by the time we draft. So expect BB to trade his 2#1's for a higher spot, and a shot at a good LB.

We do sraft at receiver, but they either don't work out (PK Sam) or they do, then leave (Givens, Branch). The Pats will always have trouble with receivers because we under-value them as compared to most teams.

Vanni9283 · Head Dick

Yeah, like the EAGLES!!! lol!!!!!