The Pats have officially filed a claim against us for tampering in the Branch situation claiming that the Jets prematurely made a deal for the WR, without permission thereby weakening his value with the rest of the league. Talked to a guy who works for one of the major weeklies and from what he's heard the Pats have a really good case. He thinks tannenbaum jumped the gun and showed his inexperience. He thinks the Jets will have to forfeit a second or third round choice if the league agrees.
I doubt 2nd or third, awfully high especially since the player did not end up with the Jets. I'd say a 5th sounds more reasonable.
They don't make teams give up low round picks for tampering. If the league finds the Jets guilty it will cost them a first day pick.
it wasn't a question of waiting, he apparently told Branch's agent what he was offering the Patriots in a trade, which is a violation of the CBA, and the basis Branch usd for his grievance against the PAtriots
we'll see ive heard minor details but either way I think the Pats are just pissed they lost their "high noon" stand off with branch and hes on the next tumbleweed to SEA. Velveeta is better than Kraft anyways. All jokes aside we had better not lose anything higher than a 5th rd pick if this holds up in hearings. oh well, pats are on the decline, still best team in this division. but this whole ordeal has made their "grade A FO" look like whining bums
What about the Seahawks tampering with him? If they leave here with even a 5th pick, I would be furious. How I can I hate that organization more than I already do seems impossible. Stop crying Belicheck for almost losing to the Bills, it not my fault the FO didnt want to pay Branch the money he deserves.
Hopefull this fuels the fire on this rivalry and we come out with some attitude and throw these guys around..altho losing a pick would suck
the grievence is because the trade offer was leaked to the press when only the jets and pats are to know it. prob the pats leaked the story to branch---not the jets
someone else mentioned this, but the Seahawks should also be accused of tampering also. First the report for trade offers only included the Jets but minutes later on ESPN it did include the Seahawks. lol i could actually see this being the case. either way i displayed my worries but I doubt anything happens mostly due to the fact that Branch didnt end up here, as long as the arbitrator isnt a Skins or Pats season ticket holder we should be fine. this whole ordeal seems childish now though. tghey got their 1st rd from SEA. theyre just going for everything they can while trying to save face from a bluff gone wrong
its not something thats very easily proven, but i'm sure theres gonna be somewhere that the NFL can find something to screw the jets, just wait.
It should be like throwing the red flag. If you get the call, you win and are compensated. If you don't, you have to give up something for having filed an unwarranted claim and having put the NFL through this nonsense.
Since Branch actually lost his grievance, I'd be interested to see how the Patriots claim to be damaged here. He repeatedly said that he wouldn't play for the amount of money they offered; the Patriots still don't have him, but now have a first round pick. How exactly were they hurt by this? They really look ridiculous here.
