Patriots WR Deion Branch to holdout????

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2006/07/23/receiver_is_getting_jammed/

Receiver is getting jammed
Branch taking some hits from his own team
By Ron Borges, Globe Staff | July 23, 2006

A barely noticed agreement last week between the NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association may be little more than a footnote when the new collective bargaining agreement is signed, but it has forced a major alteration in how Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch will approach his search for a contract extension.

For the second straight year the Patriots were facing the likelihood of a prominent player holding out when training camp opens Friday -- that is until a CBA term was agreed upon that raises the fine for a signed player holding out during camp from $5,000 to $14,000 a day. Branch, who did not attend the team's mandatory minicamp because of his unhappiness with his salary for the year remaining on the five-year contract he signed as a second-round pick in 2002, has yet to decide his course of action.

The Patriots were at the forefront of favoring long-term rookie contracts, which prevent players such as Branch from reaching free agency after four years. Patriots management began to insist on five-, and later six-year deals from their top picks, a tactic that has been addressed in the new CBA. Under the new deal the maximum contract length for rookies taken in the first 16 picks remains six years but picks 17 to 32 cannot sign for more than five years. Players taken in rounds 2-7 can no longer be signed for more than four years.

``That was New England's doing," NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw said Friday. ``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. A guy like Branch would have been a free agent this year [under the new rules]."

But he is not and that's part of the problem, according to Jason Chayut , who represents Branch. Chayut has been trying to negotiate an extension for Branch that reflects he has outplayed the value of his rookie contract. Branch is the team's No. 1 receiver yet will earn only $1.045 million this year. And he will make that much only because he hit an escalator clause based on yardage that added $500,000 to his base salary.

The ratings game

This offseason Antwaan Randle El, who is the definition of a No. 2 receiver, signed a $31 million deal with Washington that included an $11.5 million signing bonus. David Givens, who was New England's No. 2 receiver behind Branch for four seasons, signed a five-year, $24 million deal with the Titans that included an $8 million bonus. Branch will earn barely 20 percent of what Givens will receive.

What New England has offered Branch, according to a source within the organization, was either a five- or three-year deal that averages just over $6 million. Chayut says the average was more like $5.6 million a year. For perspective, a wide receiver hit with the franchise tag this season would receive $6.172 million, the average of the top five salaries at the position. That number will increase next year, probably to around $7 million, thus putting Branch below the game's elite receivers if he accepted New England's offer

GOOD!!! Let the Patsies suffer...and their fans too!!! :evil4:

he deserves more money.....but I hate hold outs,but if that wjat it takes for him to earn the money he should good for him

How many millions does it take to feed his family??

Holdouts in general piss me off. I would play NFL ball for free.

"westvirginiavikings" wrote:

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How many millions does it take to feed his family??

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Okay, I gotta stick up for a former Louisville Cardinal here.
I don't think it mentioned anywhere Branch was complaining about not being able to feed his children, he just wants a fair contract. What the Patsies were (are?) doing with their rookie contracts sounds kinda shady to me. They've always underpaid Branch, it's about time he gets what he deserves.

EDIT: Just did some research, here's some WRs who got paid more than Branch last year: Az-Zahir Hakeem, Brian Finneran, Peerless Price, Rashaun Woods, Eddie Kinneson, Robert Ferguson.. you're saying they deserve more than Branch?

"oddmanout22287" wrote:

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"westvirginiavikings" wrote:

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How many millions does it take to feed his family??

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Okay, I gotta stick up for a former Louisville Cardinal here.
I don't think it mentioned anywhere Branch was complaining about not being able to feed his children, he just wants a fair contract. What the Patsies were (are?) doing with their rookie contracts sounds kinda shady to me. They've always underpaid Branch, it's about time he gets what he deserves.

EDIT: Just did some research, here's some WRs who got paid more than Branch last year: Az-Zahir Hakeem, Brian Finneran, Peerless Price, Rashaun Woods, Eddie Kinneson, Robert Ferguson.. you're saying they deserve more than Branch?

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Blame that tightwad Robert Kraft!!!

I think he WILL holdout! :evil4:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2530066

SUCK, PATS, SUCK!!!

KFFL
Patriots | Branch placed on the reserve/did not report list
Thu, 27 Jul 2006 23:22:05 -0700

Jerome Solomon, of the Boston Globe, reports the New England Patriots have placed WR Deion Branch on the reserve/did not report list. Branch's agent, Jason Chayut, would not say if his client is in the area, but Branch has been working out and would be prepared to take the practice field as soon as a contract is worked out. Chayut indicated that Branch is prepared to sit for some time if the team doesn't make him a satisfactory offer. 'I don't know when that's going to happen,' Chayut said. 'He recognizes, from his perspective, they're not doing right by him and he's disappointed with the team.' 'He just wants to be treated fairly,' Chayut said.

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BRANCH WILL REPORT IF TEAM DOESN'T FRANCHISE HIM
pft.com

Agent Jason Chayut says that Pats receiver Deion Branch won't make good on his threat to not report for training camp if the team promises not to slap the franchise tag on him after the 2006 season.

Says Chayut: "If [the Patriots] came to me and said, 'Jason, we won't franchise Deion,' I would talk with them every day of the season in good faith to get a long-term deal done."

Sure you would, Jason, because then you'd have some real leverage. As long as the Pats have at their disposal the ability to use the franchise tag, you don't.

So why should Branch be treated any differently than any other player? Because he signed a five-year deal and necessarily gave up his first year of free agency?

If we were the Pats, we'd make no such deal. Let Branch hold out (and incur $14,000 per day in fines) if he wants to. It's not as if the oft-brittle receiver gets a ton of reps in camp and the preseason anyway.

And as for Chayut, he'd be wise to quit talking about the situation, and start focusing on giving his client good advice in light of the system that is in place not just for Branch but for every other guy in the league.

KFFL
Patriots | Branch telling friends he's prepared to stay out a long time
Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:24:30 -0700

Jason Cole, of Yahoo Sports, reports New England Patriots WR Deion Branch has told at least two friends he is willing to sit out part of the year and play only the minimum amount of time necessary to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. "People don't understand how committed he is to this," a source close to Branch said. "He's not going to come in until he gets something he feels that is fair." Branch is also staying in Boston these days, fueling the notion that he'll report any day now. That said, Branch has shown greater resolve than most people expected. He has racked up approximately $250,000 in fines for his holdout so far (if the Patriots choose to enforce the language of the collective bargaining agreement), but if Branch's holdout continues into the season, an NFL Players Association source said the union would likely advise him to show up for the final nine weeks.