Tyvon Branch agrees extending association with Oakland Raiders – NFL News
As expected earlier, Tyvon Branch has agreed to extend his association with the Oakland Raiders by signing the franchise tender on Monday, May 07, 2012.
Raiders had placed their franchise tag on Branch on March, 01, and the player had not commented on his intentions of staying with the franchise.
However, it was widely expected that Branch would happily sign the tender, which will make him earn $6.2 million in 2012.
He could also get a long-term contract with the team that wanted to retain the player for another year while working on a new deal for him.
When the Raiders placed their franchise tag on the player, their general manager, Reggie McKenzie, appreciated the player’s talent and said:
“We are pleased that Tyvon will return to the Raiders in 2012.”
He added:
“Tyvon is a talented, productive player who we hope will be wearing the Silver and Black for many years to come. We will continue to work on a long-term deal to make that happen.”
Branch started his professional National Football League (NFL) career with Raiders in 2008.
In his rookie season, he only played eight games without starting any, but Branch earned the starting role from his second season in which he recorded a total of 124 tackles in 16 games of the regular season.
In 2010, his stats did not match his previous performance, but he performed good enough to earn respect of the team. He played and started all 16 games of the regular season and registered a total of 104 tackles. He also posted 4.0 sacks.
Last season, he recorded 109 tackles and 1.0 sack while playing 16 games of the regular season.
It was the last year of his contract with the team and he could also have become a free agent had Raiders not assigned their tag.
As per the league’s regulation, Branch was allowed to join any other team of the league and desert Raiders, but to do so he was supposed to have an offer from any other team.
Furthermore, the interested team should also have matched or exceeded the offer made to him by Raiders.
However, there was no need of finding any other suitor as Branch himself was willing to join the team.
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