Steven Bisig-USA TODAY SportsMany outsiders look back at the New England
Patriots trade of wide receiver Deion Branch to the Seattle Seahawks as a win
for the Patriots and loss for the Seahawks. Afterall, cheap
New York Jets Jerseys
the Patriots acquired a first-round draft
pick in exchange for a receiver who did very little to warrant his hefty
contract from the Seahawks.The Patriots traded Branch to the Seahawks in
September of 2006 for a first round pick in the 2007 draft. Branch had been
disgruntled at having to play out the fifth and final year of his rookie
contract after having had an impressive four year career up to that point as
a former second round pick that was highlighted by being named MVP of Super Bowl
XXIX.While his career accomplishments up to that point had been impressive, the
fact of the matter is that he never had 1,000 yards receiving in any season and
never had more than five receiving touchdowns in any of his first four years
either. The Patriots turned out to be right in not wanting to make him one of
the highest paid receivers in the league, as he never had a 1,000 yard season
during his entire 12 year career and five receiving touchdowns in a season would
match a career best, too.As the sun seems to have faded in the career of Branch
(he is a free agent who doesn’t seem wanted back in New England or anywhere
else), it is a good time to go back and see how his loss affected the Patriots,
as it well known that his addition didn’t do much good for the Seahawks.The date
was January 21 of 2007 and the cheap
Detroit Lions Jerseys
Patriots had an 18-point lead against
the Indianapolis Colts late in the second quarter in the AFC Championship game.
It looked as if Tom Brady and company would coast to another Super Bowl and
defeat a less than impressive, for Super Bowl standards, Chicago Bears team that
had been led by Rex Grossman. Brady would match Joe Montana and Terry
Bradshaw with his fourth Super Bowl win as a starting quarterback.It never
happened and the Patriots not having Branch after having traded him earlier that
season had a lot to do with their loss.Somewhere between counting their chickens
before they hatched, the Patriot receivers forgot how to catch the ball and
costly drops down the stretch greatly enabled the Colts to come back and win the
game. I remember watching that game and thinking how it was obviously clear that
Brady really didn’t have a go-to receiver that he could get the ball to and how
that directly affected the outcome of the game. Even if Branch wasn’t a
1,000-yard receiver, he was still Brady’s security blanked and someone the
quarterback trusted.After the loss to the Colts, the Patriots went out and
brought in wide receivers on a grand scale that off-season. They acquired Wes
Welker from the Miami Dophins for a second and seventh round draft picks. They
gave Donte Stallworth a six-year contract for $30 million (although he was
released after the season and never saw most of that money), and later made the
famous trade cheap
Miami Dolphins Jerseys
with the Oakland Raiders to bring in Randy
Moss for only a fourth round pick. Moss rewarded the Patriots with a season for
the ages that was highlighted by 23 touchdown receptions. Bill
Belichick realized his receivers cost his team the game and wasn’t going to let
that happen again.I realize that it was the defense that also gave up the points
to Manning and the Colts but nobody can convince me that the Patriots would have
lost if Brady had Branch to throw to in some of those key situations late in
that game.I am not saying that Brach deserved to be among the highest paid
receivers in the NFL, but the fact of the matter, in my opinion, is that the
Patriots would have beaten the Colts and then the Bears if they had Branch.
Instead of a fourth Super Bowl win for Belichick and Brady, of which they are
still search for to this day, all they had was the twenty-fourth overall pick in
that coming draft that turned out to be a safety in Brandon Merriweather.If
Branch would have been playing for the Patriots in January of 2007 there would
probably be an additional Lombardi Trophy in Foxboro.-->