Don't miss your chance for football betting at BetUS.com. As America's #1 sportsbook, BetUS offers the most up-to-date betting lines & odds for all your betting needs.
Deion Branch’s Million Dollar Error
Authored by Carl Setterlund - 5th September, 2006 - 4:18 am
Playoff-bound teams and impersonators alike were able to pad their records at an astounding rate this season against the likes of Detroit, Kansas City, and St. Louis.
Between Lane Kiffin at Tennessee and openings at Clemson, Washington, Syracuse, Mississippi State and Purdue, there are fertile jobs out there.
RealGM Search
By now football fans all around the NFL are tuning in to watch the Deion Branch holdout. At one point, it seemed to we in Patriots Nation that this was simply an orchestrated holdout along the lines of Richard Seymour last season. “Give him a boost in salary this year,” we said, “and during the season they can chisel out a reasonable extension.” Not so. Initially it looked like a minor rift but the sporting world has gained knowledge that it is much more than that.
Branch argues that his production puts him on an even playing field with someone like Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts who, oh dear me, happened to sign a six-year contract over the offseason worth about 40 million dollars, with a $13.5 million signing bonus.
While admittedly a number two receiver, Wayne appears to be the heir to the Indianapolis receiving throne yet to be relinquished by the ageless Marvin Harrison. The 6-0, 200-pound Wayne has not missed a game in four years and has averaged approximately 80 receptions, 1,100 yards and 9 touchdowns over the past two seasons.
Branch, 5-foot-9-inches, is basing his argument for this type of money on his 78 reception, 998 yard, 5 touchdown campaign in 2005. However, the kicker is that Branch has amassed twenty-three catches, 276 yards, a touchdown and a Super Bowl MVP in his two trips to the big show. Certainly Branch’s postseason contributions make him an equal to a Reggie Wayne type player.
On August 25th, the Patriots gave Branch a six day window to work out a trade with another team which would essentially involve a new contract for Branch and proper compensation for New England. It appeared to be a great moral victory for Branch and his agent Jason Chayut when they reportedly received an offer from the New York Jets for a six-year, $39 million deal with a $12 million signing bonus and a similar offer from the Seattle Seahawks.
Both clubs offered second round picks in the deal, which was deemed by Belichick, Pioli and Kraft to be inadequate compensation. In response, Branch filed two grievances which essentially say that New England was offered proper compensation and should have accepted it, but that they had no intention of accepting a deal for the wideout. This journalist questions the intentions of the New York Jets in particular who most certainly understood that the Patriots in fact had no intention of trading Branch and would benefit if the precedent for a new contract with New England were set at the numbers that they had offered. Both the Jets organization and Branch would steadfastly deny such a plot, deem it farfetched, and bring up the Reggie Wayne argument.
Yet Branch and his agent have brought a flawed argument to the table. In fact, their case is flawed on many fronts. Agent Jason Chayut would have you believe that Wayne and the New England receiver are in similar situations and should be paid similarly, but this is not so. The Colts receiver was on the verge of becoming a restricted free agent which would allow him to receive offers from any team, allowing Indianapolis to match if they so choose. In many cases a bidding war ensues and a player’s price becomes inflated.
The Colts chose to lock up Wayne beforehand to a substantial sum but also avoided a potentially over-the-top number. In this case, Wayne and his agent used their leverage to the best of their ability, achieving quite a nice looking contract. However, Deion Branch lacks this leverage as he is still under contract for this season. He can argue all he wants (and justly so) that his $1.045 salary for the upcoming season leaves him grossly underpaid, but the honest fact is that he IS under contract.
If I can take an opinion on the matter I will say that the advice Branch has been receiving has been atrocious and that this was perhaps the worst way he could seek his payday. In asking for more money before his contract was up, Branch should have known that he would be accepting less than he would receive on the open market. The only threat he could impose on the team is to deny them of his playing services, and he should have had the sense not to take a stand against the team who deems all players outside out of a select pair (see Brady, Seymour) as replaceable. Consequently, not only can the Patriots counter with denying Branch his pay, they also hold his rights this season and have the right to match any contract offer next season when he hits restricted free agency. After sitting out an entire year and disputing with one of the more respected organizations in the NFL, Branch will have trouble finding that $40 million payday again and even more importantly, that $13.5 million bonus. The situation has been lose-lose for Branch from the start.
Considered 1a and 1b in the receiving corps, the Patriots had been getting by with the combo of Branch and David Givens for the past couple years until Givens hit free agency this year. He was snatched up by the Tennessee Titans for five years for $24 million and an $8 million signing bonus. In accordance to the wishes of Deion Branch, the Patriots offers a three year extension worth $18.75 million with $8 million in bonuses or the option of a five year extension worth $31 million with $11 million in bonuses. While most, if not all football experts give Branch a slight edge over Givens, you consider that the latter’s deal was worked out on the open market and one would form the opinion that the Patriots are being more reasonable than Chayut. A flaw in the Reggie Wayne argument employed by Branch’s agent is that the Patriots can just as easily counter with an argument calling for Givens type money. Chayut’s point would be more effective if he held any cards here at all, but in fact he holds none.
Furthermore, most expect the NFL Players Union to be denied the grievance. Nobody is going to tell the Patriots that they have to trade Branch and what they can ask for. The NFL is also not going to tell New England that the extension they give Branch has to be “Reggie Wayne type money.” How ridiculous a ruling would that be? Deion and his reps may then argue that New England set an unrealistic standard for their compensation to the point where no team would match and that this maneuver was intentional. But again, who is going to tell the Patriots what they can ask for and how can anybody prove that their demands were intentionally unworkable? If the Patriots choose to -- and I expect they will -- they can bring up the cases of Joey Galloway and Keyshawn Johnson. Dallas gave up TWO (!!!!) first round picks in exchange for Galloway and Tampa Bay also matched the precedent of two first-rounders to acquire Keyshawn. If Branch is arguing that he is a number one receiver and should be paid accordingly, surely the clever New England organization should receive at least a measly first round pick (if not more!), not the second rounders being offered. But it is a second rounder that Chayut says is reasonable compensation? Oh yeah? Well if Branch is worth a mid-to-late second rounder, doesn’t that make the more than six million dollars a year that the Patriots were offering seem generous for a player of that caliber?
There’s no way that Branch can win this one. For each argument he throws out there, the well-prepared New England legal team will prove an even better counterargument. If Deion Branch thought to himself that he’s a valuable, hard-working member of the franchise and that the Patriots would be generous, he was mistaken. Once this became public, it started involving New England’s reputation. Once his holdout became a national headline it put Bob Kraft, Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick in a position where they cannot allow themselves to give up an inch.
Giving in to Branch would both set a terrible precedent for Patriots and the league as well. A receiver, under contract, says to give him a $40 million deal or else and you respond by caving in? This is something that no well-run franchise will do. The scenario in which you cave for a player applies to one or two players on each team and the Patriots have already identified said players. Branch is not one of them. It would be in his best interest to concede “defeat” and “accept” the $18 million the Patriots are willing to throw his way. The Patriots can, if they choose to, fine Branch $14,000 a day for his holdout and by my count his penalties have already exceeded his $1.045 million salary for this season. If he chooses to hold out during the season, New England will withhold his paychecks. Tom Brady has stood up for his friend, but he is certainly capable of moving on without him. If there is any sense left in this situation, Branch will report and concede that he is in fact only an employee and that he is indeed under contract. If this happens soon, everybody can make amends and move on. If not, all parties included will suffer. The choice is ultimately up to Branch, but it would seem that it is an easy choice to make at this point.
