SuperBills12 Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2575530 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Both sides are stupid. Branch thinks his is worth more than he is (the deals that The Seahawks and Jets offered are similar to what the Pats were offering) and the Pats are crazy for asking for a #1 and a mid rounder. Bridges have been burned. Cut losses and get out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 the deals that The Seahawks and Jets offered are similar to what the Pats were offering 763154[/snapback] Really? How so? According to this article, he was offered a 3 year, $18.75M extension to his contract by the Patriots. This means he still plays this year at $1.045 million + potentially some signing bonus money, for a potential total of $20M over the next 4 years. According to the above-linked article, he was offered "a six-year, $39 million deal that included $13 million in combined bonuses and would have paid him about $23 million over the first three years." Yeah, if you take the Pats extension amount and double it (3 years versus 6), it's about the same amount of dollars, but if you are looking at it from how much he will receive now (which a player always has to consider, because there's no guarantee that he'll still be playing in three years...), the Seattle deal is much more lucrative. All other things equal, $23M over 3 years is much better than $20M over 4. It's not as much a matter of how much as when... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 In fairness, I complain that Willis shows no gratitude toward the Bills for picking him where they did, but then you have teams like the Patriots who seem to go out of their way to screw a guy who was a SB MVP. You'd think they'd offer him a bit more respect than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuile Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Who knows where Branch got this idea he was a number one WR. I wish someone would tell him how sweet a gig he was in the NE. He is on one of the best built teams in the NFL and gets plenty of touches because of the talent, or lack there of, around him. He should learn from Peerless Price and know a good situation when he is in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Really? How so? According to this article, he was offered a 3 year, $18.75M extension to his contract by the Patriots. This means he still plays this year at $1.045 million + potentially some signing bonus money, for a potential total of $20M over the next 4 years. According to the above-linked article, he was offered "a six-year, $39 million deal that included $13 million in combined bonuses and would have paid him about $23 million over the first three years." Yeah, if you take the Pats extension amount and double it (3 years versus 6), it's about the same amount of dollars, but if you are looking at it from how much he will receive now (which a player always has to consider, because there's no guarantee that he'll still be playing in three years...), the Seattle deal is much more lucrative. All other things equal, $23M over 3 years is much better than $20M over 4. It's not as much a matter of how much as when... 763194[/snapback] I see your point, but on paper The Patriots offered Branch a three-year extension in May with a $4 million bonus this season, a $4 million guaranteed option bonus next September and salaries of $1.4, $4.3 and $4.75 million. It averages out to over $6 million per year over the life of the extension. (About the same as the six year $39M Deal.) The Seahawks deal might have a little more upfront money, but in the end, the deals are similar. (The upside is that Branch becomes a FA at age 29 with the Pats deal.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 I see your point, but on paper The Patriots offered Branch a three-year extension in May with a $4 million bonus this season, a $4 million guaranteed option bonus next September and salaries of $1.4, $4.3 and $4.75 million. It averages out to over $6 million per year over the life of the extension. (About the same as the six year $39M Deal.) The Seahawks deal might have a little more upfront money, but in the end, the deals are similar. (The upside is that Branch becomes a FA at age 29 with the Pats deal.) 763230[/snapback] So you're talking the difference between $14M and $23M over the next three years, correct? That might be a "little bit" for rich folks like yourself, but for someone who will be making most of his career money over the next few years, I'd say that's a significant difference. Yes, the clock is ticking, but it's ticking in both directions. He's "hot" now, what's saying he'll be "hot" in three years? He'll be at worst three more years removed from being a "Super Bowl MVP"... That's what I was saying....and of course that's all besides the point that if he took the Pats deal he'd be playing against us this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 So you're talking the difference between $14M and $23M over the next three years, correct? That might be a "little bit" for rich folks like yourself, but for someone who will be making most of his career money over the next few years, I'd say that's a significant difference. Yes, the clock is ticking, but it's ticking in both directions. He's "hot" now, what's saying he'll be "hot" in three years? He'll be at worst three more years removed from being a "Super Bowl MVP"... That's what I was saying....and of course that's all besides the point that if he took the Pats deal he'd be playing against us this weekend. 763245[/snapback] I know what you are saying and you are 100% correct. All I was implying is at the end of the day, the Seahawks and the Pats decided that Deion Branch is worth a little over $6M per year. I'm with you, at least we don't have to worry about him this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Branch doesn't want to go to the Seahawks; he wants to go to the Jets (for some reason ). The Jets though don't want to give up more than a 2nd rounder, while the Pats want AT LEAST a 1st rounder, plus a little more, especially if he goes to the Jets. IOW, don't expect Branch to go anywhere and likely sit-out the 1st 10 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 All good points being made here but - on the other hand - SCREW Branch and SCREW the Patriots!!!! One more distraction for New England, and one less quality player for the Bills to defend against, IMHO. Bills 31 Pats 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Who knows where Branch got this idea he was a number one WR. I wish someone would tell him how sweet a gig he was in the NE. He is on one of the best built teams in the NFL and gets plenty of touches because of the talent, or lack there of, around him. He should learn from Peerless Price and know a good situation when he is in it. 763197[/snapback] Branch probasbly got the idea that he was worth more than he was being paid when he won the SB MVP. The point you raise about how sweet a gig he has with NE strikes me as at best a tertiary issue in this case. 1. The primary issue it seems to me is that a contract is a contract. If Branch signed a deal which has him playing for NE next year for "only" a million dollars, then it strikes me that Branch should honor that contract if NE insists upon it. 2. A secondary issue though is that clearly the past and usual practice in the NFL is to extend a young player's contract if he plays well (Branch's play the past couple of years and the SB MVP trophy certainly constitute excellent play). This is at the option of the team though, yet there is a lot in it for them to negotiate in good faith with a player to make such a deal. The Bills for example made such deals with Crowell, mcGee, Haggan and others. Branch probably got this "odd" idea when he noticed that such renegotiations are fairly normal practice in the NFL. They are however, at the team's option as he is under contract. It would seem wise for a team to want to lock him up given his output and the trophy he received in this form of entertainment. As in the Lawyer Milloy case, it is clear that though Belocheck is a genius on the field, he really can participate with Pioli in some bad misreads of players and unsuccessful high stake negotiating. Branch has taken the relatively unusual step of filing a grievance against the Pats for not negotiating in good faith and also specifically for lying to him about trading him for reasonable value if he negotiated a deal. The Pats are arguing that the arbitrator has no jurisdiction over deciding whether the deal offered by Seattle and NYJ is reasonable or whether the Pats demands for a 1st and a 2nd are reasonable, We'll see. Your mention of PP is interesting because it would seem that the market value for this WR who had a lot more catches the previous season than Branch did was only worth a 1st in the market. On the other hand, rights of first refusal compensation for trading RFA WRs whi were not has productive as Branch was far more than just a 1st. Draft choice value however is not a static thing (no matter what Mel Kiper says) a 1st round choice in a strong draft is worth more than a `st round choice ina weak draft and generally it seems hard to make this decision quickly or within the normal arbitration process. However, the "bad" faith claim seems a more valid issue to consider. If in fact NE exercised its option to keep Branch signed to his initial contract or exercised it by entering into negotiations with him over an extension, the system demands that the Pats enter into serious negotiations to reach a desirable outcome for the Pats AND for Branch. If he can demonstrate that the Pats never were serious about negotiations with him (for example if they turned down every proposal he made and never offered a counter proposal (or offered a serious one) I think this woukd constitute bad faith. The Pats have the option here to keep Branch under the contract he signed OR alternately to enter into serious negotiations with him. They apparently entered into negotiations with Branch and if they were simply stalling and then expected him to play for the deal they agreed to negotiate away nut really were never gonna reach agreement this is bad faith and Branch has a point. 3. All NFL players have a sweet deal because they are paid multiplrd more thsn the average person to play a boys game. Branch has a sweet deal compared to the rest of the league because NE has been more successful than any other team and though Branch is not the best WR in the NFL he is the go-to WR for NE. However, in terms of compensation what is a sweet deal can quickly become disappointment if an injury occurs. So its nice if you are lucky enough not to get hurt and is way nice compared to normal folk, but it is in both Branch's interest to negotiate while he can if the Pats agree to do so and its in the Pats interest to lock him up with a cap manageable contract if they can. My sense is that under normal circumstance the Pats have an absolute right to get play from Branch for the agreed upon amount if the choose. However, if it was the case that the Pats already entered into negotiations with Branch to make a long term deal they would be in bad faith and lose the moral high ground if they never intended to get a deal done and stalled to shine Branch on while the clock was tacjking. We will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Theres also been the bad blood bewteen the 2 sides from the first contract negotiation. Branch was a 2nd round pick, and wanted to sign for 4 years. The pats strong armed him and told him to take 5 years or else. They wanted one more year for peanuts. Now its come full circle, and its going to bite them in the ass. The pats were the driving the force behind the limited contract lengths in the new CBA. They were strong arming lower round draft picks into taking longer contracts, ie 4-6 years, when traditionally, the would get 3 or less. Typical patsie cheapskate bull sh--. Its biting them in the ass and i am loving it. Soon enough, belichick's ego is going to turn the patriots into a 5-11 team. his "midas touch" with old and no-name free agents has run out. Hope those 3 rings were worth an eternity rotting in hell, because you can bet your ass he sold his soul for these last few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Theres also been the bad blood bewteen the 2 sides from the first contract negotiation. Branch was a 2nd round pick, and wanted to sign for 4 years. The pats strong armed him and told him to take 5 years or else. They wanted one more year for peanuts. Now its come full circle, and its going to bite them in the ass. The pats were the driving the force behind the limited contract lengths in the new CBA. They were strong arming lower round draft picks into taking longer contracts, ie 4-6 years, when traditionally, the would get 3 or less. Typical patsie cheapskate bull sh--. Its biting them in the ass and i am loving it. Soon enough, belichick's ego is going to turn the patriots into a 5-11 team. his "midas touch" with old and no-name free agents has run out. Hope those 3 rings were worth an eternity rotting in hell, because you can bet your ass he sold his soul for these last few years. 763303[/snapback] look at the bright side. branch, despite what people are saying here, is a premier receiver. he won't be playing this week, which is to the advantage of the bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 All good points being made here but - on the other hand - SCREW Branch and SCREW the Patriots!!!! One more distraction for New England, and one less quality player for the Bills to defend against, IMHO. Bills 31 Pats 10 763275[/snapback] This is the fifth time I've seen this prediction from you. If it turns out to be true, I will schitt purple twinkies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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