Understood. At the end of the day be it 6 weeks or 6 months no team would give up what would amount to be a 1st rounder or the equivilant. Like you say ...playing the game.
Yes its a good management move if it works. They won't get what hes worth , not now. He stays and doesn't get the contract he wants , he could become a problem
I think I see this clearly. There were only two choices for the Patriots at this point: (1) Pay the kid every dime he's demanding, or (2) let him continue his holdout into week 10. Seems simple enough. Do nothing, pay him, or dream up option three. This was option three. Now, our next source of entertainment will be the reaction from Deion Branch's malpracticing agent, Jason Chayut.
I don't think the Patriots will trade him, I think it is just a move so that he sees that noone else will give him much more than the pats are offering. Hiowever if there is a team out there offering a 1st plus they would be foolidh not to take it. The patriots system doesn't require a real #1 receiver, it is based around interchangable decent guys, RBs and TEs they would be fine with jackson, caldwell brown. I would expect them to take a look at some of they guys who get cut by other teams as well, Charles Rogers comes to mind, Sean Morey could get cut in Pittsburgh he played in NE before. Miami has a ton of WR having nice pre-seasons, NE might take a look at the ones who get cut. Overall the Patriots would take a downgrade if they lose branch, but it seems most likely he re-ups, and if he goes for a 1st rounder, or a 1st plus then it is worth it, they spread the ball aound so much that they can get by without Branch.
I drafted Reche Caldwell on my FF team for this reason. Trade Branch's ass away now :beer: :breakdance:
Birds might stand pat on BranchBy LES BOWEN bowenl@phillynews.com THE EAGLES know they're counting on some things they can't really be sure of getting from their wide receivers: Todd Pinkston being healthy and productive, Reggie Brown blossoming, Hank Baskett being not only for real but ready to contribute solidly as a rookie. That might mean a move for a wideout before the Sept. 10 season opener - particularly if Pinkston can't provide any better reassurance in practice this week than he supplied in catching one pass for 4 yards Friday night against the Steelers. Getting Deion Branch still looks like a longshot, though. Sources close to the situation say the Eagles like Branch, 27, who has been given until Friday to seek a trade acceptable to the New England Patriots, but they don't consider him one of the league's top receivers. Those sources say the Eagles would be unlikely to offer Branch more than the $18.75 million over 3 years that reportedly was New England's latest bid. But New England was insisting on Branch playing the final year of his current contract, this season, at the scheduled $1.045 million figure. The new deal wouldn't kick in until next year. It's possible the Eagles would be amenable to a different structure. Even if a contract agreement was possible, there would be the matter of what the Patriots would want in a trade, if they are serious about trading him. The Eagles, like many NFL observers, assume the Pats' main motivation in giving Branch permission to seek a trade was to convince him that no one out there wants to sign him to a contract like the 6 years at $43 million the Colts gave Reggie Wayne. But there is substantial bad blood between New England management and Branch, who is holding out of training camp. The Eagles know from their own experience that once a player is alienated, even if the market doesn't provide what he's looking for, he doesn't necessarily put things back together with his current team. At some point, Branch might just prefer to move along. Nobody is going to give the Patriots a first-round draft pick for Branch, who is not viewed as a game-breaker, despite his 78 catches last season and his Super Bowl XXXIX MVP award. A second- or third-round pick is more likely. Even if the Birds were willing to go that far, as Donovan McNabb noted a couple of weeks ago, you don't just snap your fingers and pick up this offense. It's very late to integrate a wideout into the attack, especially a starter. The bottom line might be, if it starts to look as if Branch really will be traded, the Eagles certainly will want to kick the tires and go for a test drive. Nothing better is likely to appear on the market. But they don't seem to be breathless with anticipation, and fans probably shouldn't be, either.
