"Newest Seattle receiver Deion Branch talks about leaving the New England Patriots in exchange for a first-round pick ending his holdout."
Recently acquired wide receiver Deion Branch signed a six-year, $39 million deal with the Seahawks. Branch will reportedly receive $23 million over the first three seasons of the deal, including $13 million in bonuses and guarantees. The 2007 first round draft pick is gone to the Patriots and the money has been spent, so now Seahawk fans want to see their new player on the field and producing.
The Seahawks have a two-week roster exemption, so Branch could remain inactive against the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, but that probably will not happen. The Seahawks are going to want to see Deion Branch practice and learn the playbook some, but might plug him into the line-up as soon as this coming weekend if they think he can contribute against a division rival. The odds of Branch playing this week are probably 50-50, but he should be active for the Giants game for sure. The games against the Giants (Week 3) and Bears (Week 4) have important playoff implications, and Holmgren and Ruskell will want Branch out there. He could help spread those tough defense and force them into dime packages, which would help combat the pass-rush.
Deion Branch has not played in the West Coast Offense since college, but it won't be much of an adjustment for him. He is an intelligent player and excels at short routes and running after the catch. The plays might have different names, but a quick-hitch, slant, or curl route is the same in any offense. A reasonable expectation is that the Seahawks will initially feed Branch the third-down playbook and use him in obvious passing situations. As he gets comfortable with more of the playbook, his role will expand. He will get a lot of work in practice with Matt Hasselbeck, especially during the bye week.
The Cardinals defense allowed QB Alex Smith to pass for 288 yards (103 more than he did in any game last year) and the San Francisco offense rung up 27 points. That was a pretty poor performance considering it was the home opener at their brand new stadium in front of a loud, supportive crowd. The Seahawks offense probably doesn't need Branch this week, so the team will probably wait one more week to make a decision on who to let go (or put on IR) before activating Branch.
0 comments:
Post a Comment