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A Front Office of One

Today is Deion Branch's last day as an NFL general manager. The week the Patriots gave their holdout wide receiver to work out a trade for himself expires Sept. 1.

Although almost every team in the league could better itself with a receiver of Branch's caliber, including some franchises with distinct weakness at the position, the flesh market has been quiet so far. Make that silent. As the Patriots well knew, it was next door to impossible for Branch to find a team that'd give him the new contract he wanted AND fairly compensate the Pats for losing his talents. Otherwise they wouldn't have let him try.

So the odds, as they always did, favor some sort of compromise between Branch and his current employer. That's not the point of this post, which is more in the nature of idle speculation. What if Branch had succeeded in his quest?

Suppose Branch had found a sucker, er, Super Bowl hopeful willing to pay him big money and give the Pats a package they found irresistable? Wouldn't it then make more sense for New England to turn down the deal and give Branch a new contract with one condition, that he spend his offseasons as Scott Pioli's assistant? We have to assume the Pats have already explored dealing Branch. If he could succeed where they failed, his hidden talent as an executive would clearly outweigh whatever draft picks they'd get for his playing services.

The "work out your own trade" gambit is not uncommon in NFL contract impasses. Sooner or later the laws of chance dictate that some progressive franchise will tell a recalcitrant star, "You're hired! Again! And twice!"

posted by Michael Gee @ 11:39 AM