Branch offers refused

Patriots then are hit with two grievances

September 02, 2006|Globe Staff

The long and winding road back to Foxborough for Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch took another unexpected turn yesterday when Branch filed two grievances against the team not long after the Patriots refused to accept trade offers from the Seattle Seahawks or New York Jets by a 4 p.m. deadline imposed by the Patriots.

The grievances allege the Patriots failed to negotiate in good faith over an extension of Branch's contract and broke a verbal agreement to trade the player for a ``fair and reasonable offer" after negotiations over an extension broke down irretrievably. The Patriots' alleged failure to cooperate with a trade is addressed by a non-injury grievance, which has been expedited by the players' union and will result in a hearing within seven days. Representatives of the union and the NFL Management Council will meet over the weekend to seek a date for that hearing. It will be heard by John Feerick of the Fordham University School of Law or Shyam Das of Pittsburgh. Branch will be represented by NFL Players Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen, outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler, an antitrust expert, and Branch's personal attorney, Peter Ginsberg .

The charge that the Patriots did not bargain in good faith with Branch will be decided in a separate case filed with special master Stephen Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Under the collective bargaining agreement, the special master has jurisdiction over cases alleging a club violated its obligation to negotiate a player's contract in good faith.

The first case alleges the Patriots reached a binding contract with Branch that he would be traded if another club offered them compensation ``comparable to what other clubs have received for players of similar value to Branch." The grievance claims, and the Jets confirmed last night, that such comparable value was in the form of a second-round draft pick. The Jets hold both their own pick and the Redskins' second-round pick for 2007, and it is the latter that was offered to New England.

If Washington finishes near where it has been projected this season, that pick would be slightly better than where New England selected Branch in 2002 (second round, 65th overall).

READER COMMENTS »

View reader comments » Comment on this story »