Rumor is he is going to the Pats...
# An offshoot of Branch being dealt to Seattle is that New England will now have to sort out their receiver situation. A rumor circulating Tuesday had the Patriots on the verge of acquiring Jerry Porter from the Raiders, which makes sense assuming Porter can work his way out of Art Shell's doghouse in time to play at some point this season and won't be an even bigger problem than Branch's holdout.
Porter was seen laughing on the sidelines Monday night while Aaron Brooks was being pummeled by the Chargers. He isn't quite at Branch's level, but he's a talented receiver who will likely come at a discount price. If New England can essentially swap Branch for Porter while moving up a couple rounds in the draft, they will have at least avoided what could have been a disastrous situation.
If the Porter rumor falls through, the Patriots will probably look for Doug Gabriel (acquired from the Raiders last month) to step into a big role. Gabriel was inactive for Week 1, but indications are he'll figure prominently in the team's plans once he gets the playbook down. He was a good sleeper heading into the season whose stock has arguably gone up with the move to New England.
