Olive Branch

The Seahawks and Jets look like smart players in the Deion Branch melodrama. Deion Branch has tentative deals with New York and Seattle. Deion Branch is almost certainly not going to land in Seattle, but Tim Ruskell is making a good play here.

I don't think New England is going to trade Branch, but with two teams coming to terms with him, it forces their hand to either re-sign him or deal with him sitting through the first 10 weeks of the season. If he is going to be an unrestricted free agent next year, the Seahawks already have a leg up on everyone else in terms of a starting point for negotiations and some good will with Branch. Is it too much to say they are extending an olive Branch?

When considering what this trade means about the Seahawks receivers right now, remember that Seattle didn't even make an offer to the Patriots. That renders any contract agreement meaningless. This was just a smart move by Ruskell to take advantage of this situation and position the Seahawks for next year if Branch becomes a free agent. This business with Branch doesn't necessarily reflect negatively on the Seahawks current receiving situation, including Darrell Jackson and his knee.

The Jets are doing exactly what I thought the Dolphins would do. A week ago today I suggested the following:
"Just a thought here, but Miami should offer a first-rounder for Branch. There is no way New England would take that deal and send him to a division rival. The Patriots are allowing Branch to shop for a deal in hopes that he realizes that his market value is less than he thinks it is. If Miami offers a first-rounder, then Branch won't back down from his demands and Miami can almost guarantee either a holdout or that New England gets backed into a situation where they have to deal him to someone else to avoid one."

The Jets came to terms with Branch for a 6-year, $36 million contract, although it apparently has a "funky structure." To make things more complicated, Deion Branch and his agent Jason Chayut have filed a grievance against the Patriots. "Chayut is alleging that there was a verbal agreement between he and the Patriots that New England would deal Branch if presented with a 'fair and reasonable' offer. Chayut alleges that the Jets presented New England with that offer but that the Patriots didn't act on it."

Branch is not going to win any hearing, but it is looking more and more like he will not be playing a down for New England, at least not in the first 10 weeks. He would lose out on most of his $1.045 million salary and be hit with considerable fines to the point where it would actually cost him to stay in New England if he doesn't play. The fines through Week 10 would be about $1.5 million, and he would only make about $400,000 this season for the final six weeks, so he is looking at paying the Patriots about $1.1 million.

However, he knows he can land a contract for $30+ million as an unrestricted free agent next year, so it might make sense to avoid an injury. The Patriots were playing with fire when they let Branch talk to other teams and now they are paying for it. The idea was that Branch would realize his asking price was too high, but it looks like the Patriots were wrong about that.