Branch to Fire Chayut?

The Patriot Ledger's Eric McHugh is reporting that Deion Branch could end his impasse with the New England Patriots by firing his agent, Jason Chayut.

As of right now, Branch has every reason to seek a change in representation. As a 2nd round pick, Branch (with Chayut representing him) signed a 5-year contract. Normally, 2nd round picks sign 4-year deals. Chayut claims that the Patriots strong-armed him into agreeing to the 5th year on the deal.

This off-season, Branch wanted a "Reggie Wayne" type of contract extention (6-years, $39M including $13.5M in guaranteed money). Branch does have a Super Bowl MVP award on his resume, but the sort of contract offer he was reportedly looking for isn't commensurate with his production. Branch has never finished in the Top 10 in any receiving category during his 4 years in New England, and without a Pro Bowl or 1,000 yard season on his resume, the notoriously frugal Patriots weren't about to pony up an 8-figure signing bonus.

Also hindering a contract extention was the pesky issue of Branch having one full season remaining on his rookie contract. Extending a player who's already contract is not something most NFL teams rush to do, and it's a practice the Patriots, in particular, don't make a habit of doing. The Patriots have recently extended the contracts of Tom Brady and Richard Seymour, despite a year remaining from their rookie deals. The difference is, Brady is a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer and Seymour is the best defensive lineman in the NFL. Branch isn't a Top 5 WR in his conference.

Still, the Patriots weren't unwilling to work with Branch, and new contract proposals were exchanged. Feeling as though the Patriots were slighting his client, Chayut went public with his dissatisfaction with the Patriots front office, which essentially guaranteed that he'd eventually be fired. If you want re-enact the "pick up the gun" scene from Shane, you don't do it with Scott Pioli and Bill Belichick.

As we approach the deadline the Patriots gave Branch and Chayut to seek a trade, it's obvious that Branch realizes that his agent didn't do him any favors over the past few months. His best bet is to fire Chayut (who really does deserve much of the blame for this), agree to come back into camp, and hope that his new agent and the team can agree to a contract similar to the one Chayut turned down earlier this off-season.

The Vinatieri Curse?

Word out of Indianapolis is that Adam Vinatieri has a broken bone in his left foot. The team reports it as being a ligament injury, and that the future Hall-of-Fame kicker is day-to-day. His mother isn't so sure, and calls it a "week-to-week" situation.

My first-hand knowledge of how the New Englanders mind tends to work tells me that if Vinatieri's injury lingers, there will be talk of Vinatieri being "cursed" for leaving New England for Indianapolis, their conference rival. Not a week goes by where a Patriots fan doesn't paint Vinatieri as a greedy player, who took more money despite his cult-hero status here in the Boston area.

That's nonsense. New England decided that it was too costly to place the franchise tag on Vinatieri, and allowed him to hit the open market. They had an interest in bringing him back, but despite nearly $20M in cap room, they weren't offering any guaranteed money. Indianapolis, who couldn't bring Mike Vanderjagt back without enciting a riot, quickly pounced and gave Vinatieri a contract that gave him the guaranteed money he'd been looking for.

The only thing that matters in an NFL contract is guaranteed money. Vinatieri got $3.5M in guaranteed money from Indianapolis. New England was offering about $3.499999M less than that.

It was a no-brainer for Vinatieri, and a mistake by the Patriots front office.

No curse necessary.