Comments on: Report: Wes Welker deal with Patriots “isn’t anywhere near close”

By: patsfiend

patsfiend — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:16:57 +0000

This sure sounds a lot like the “contentious” Mankins negotiations that PFT reeled us all in on last year, and Wilfork before that.

The Pats choose their price, and pick the “Patriot Way” flag-bearers. Welker is one of these guys, and I believe Seymour probably was years ago too… and it’s going to be up to Welker and his agent how he wants to finish his career and his legacy.

Take the Seymour / Branch route or take the Bruschi / Mankins route. Either way, the Pats win 11+ games next year, and life goes on.

I hope Wes stays, great Patriot, but if I had to pick between them spending their money on Wes vs. bringing in a solid CB and Safety… I’m sliding my chips towards the defensive side of the board.

By: ckinthekc99

ckinthekc99 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:41:52 +0000

Have u guys seen the contracts given out so far this offseason? Welker deserves every bit of $8 mil a year? Chase Daniel got $3 mil a year, Desmond bryant got $7 mil a year

By: rc33

rc33 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:18:40 +0000

Welker turned down a 2 yr./$16M fully guaranteed deal last season. I understand him turning it down but that’s still about as much guaranteed money as he’s likely to see in any deal now.
IMO, he should’ve taken it.

By: patsfan13

patsfan13 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:15:22 +0000

Could be a question of who is greedier, Welker, or his agent.

By: ragincjun7645

ragincjun7645 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:12:37 +0000

Amendola is a walking injury, Josh Cribbs is…a pretty good kick returner (okay?).

Unfortunately for Wes, it’s ain’t about what he has done when your a 32 WR. But anyone who thinks TB took that pay cut for any other reason other than to help Wes out is delusional.

Flacco took one for his best receiver didn’t he?

By: patsman12

patsman12 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:44:02 +0000

Here is the deal, from me and Pat Kirwin we have agreed on this since last year. He is 32 so 3 year contract 24 to 25 mill with a 14 to 15 mill guarenteed that is tops period. If he would have caught the pass two years ago in the Superbowl the deal would have been done by now

By: gisellichek

gisellichek — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:39:17 +0000

Wes, 5’9” slot guys get 4-6M a year… thats it.
Just sign the deal!!!!

By: azarkhan

azarkhan — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:39:15 +0000

Who on the Patriots receiving corps does Belichick think will make the 110+ catches that Welker makes year in and year out? Deion Branch? Brandon Lloyd? The Patriots need to get their head out of their a@@ and pay one of the best receivers in football, otherwise they are not going to another SB.

By: whatnojets

whatnojets — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:25:27 +0000

Great fit for the New York Jets IF our butt-fumbling quaterback can muster the arm strenght to pass the ball at least five yards!!!

By: swagger52

swagger52 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:19:39 +0000

I wish the Ravens would sign him, but then again he likely wants too much money. Welker knows Brady really needs a receiver that can get open in 5 yards, because that is the limit of Brady’s arm. So Welker is exploiting his leverage.

By: woodsa22

woodsa22 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:17:14 +0000

Will not do anything without TB????

I triple dog dare you to let Bree’s or Manning (either one) get him on their side of the ball.

By: vaphinfan

vaphinfan — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:02:28 +0000

They both need each other. Welker won’t put up as good of numbers as he has been without brady and brady and the pats won’t be as successful without welker.

By: ijahru

ijahru — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:42:10 +0000

Wes is very close to having a HOF career. I think he and Brady have a symbiotic relationship and for him to go anywhere else would hurt his chances of getting in the HOF. This is most definitely about money and I wish we were privvy to how much the Patriots are offering. I believe last year it was 8 million per for three. Anything more than 8-9 million per for Wes is overspending and Bill won’t do that. I think Wes’s agent is blowing rainbows and sunshine up his ass as to what he can be making. You would think the greatest slot receiver would have at least have some meetings lined since they were able to talk to other teams 4 days ago.

By: plarkin88

plarkin88 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:40:16 +0000

2013 Welker is worth serious cash. 14/15/16 is the question mark. I don’t want to pay $10m for a slot receiver that will be covered by the WILL backer in 2 years. Pats are doing the cold dose of reality the only way they can. Let the other teams set the market and then decide if the market rate is worth paying. I have to believe Welker knows he’s better off with Brady than anyone else, as long as the money is close.

By: bradwins

bradwins — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:28:22 +0000

Washington is the dark horse.

By: patfanken

patfanken — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:28:01 +0000

The only thing we know for certain in the Welker negotiations that….no one knows what the F is going on. These continuing reports of a deal being close, or a deal being distant are getting almost comical.

Here is what we DO know:

1. The Pats and Welker aren’t close in their opinions of what Welker’s worth. (My guess is the Pats are willing to pay in the neighborhood of $7-8MM/yr and Welker wants $9-10MM)

2. The Pats are willing to let Welker see for himself what the market will bring.

3. When Welker’s offers come in the Pats will up their offer 5-10% and he’ll stay or go. Its as simple as that.

The Pats want him, but remember in 2006 the Pats went to the AFCCG with Reche Caldweld, Jabar Gaffney, and Troy Brown as their WR’s, and were 7th in scoring. No Gronk. No Hernandez and a mediocre running attack

Everyone hopes Welker is back, but the Pats aren’t going to spend $10MM/yr for a 5’9, 185 lb, 32 year old WR, who though very productive, is showing signs of decline. His drops are trending up and his YAC is trending down.

Its not like he isn’t still a very productive receiver, and the reported $8MM/yr the Pats are offering isn’t chump change. So we shall see if there is someone who will meet his price.

By: harrisonhits2

harrisonhits2 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:26:14 +0000

Welker will do fine wherever he ends up, but won’t get 10 mil a year+ no matter where he ends up.

By: tigerlilac

tigerlilac — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:21:56 +0000

Welker is a great player, which Belichick has acknowledged on many occasions. Brady called him the heart and soul of the team and cleared cap space to sign him. Kraft said he loves him and want him to be a Patriot for life if they can do a fair deal. But life is full of choices and the ball is in Wes’ court. He can sign with the Pats or sign elsewhere. The Patriots have been big enough to let Welker decide.

By: sikologik

sikologik — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:19:39 +0000

I think NE has all the bargaining power in this one. Yeah, they’d love to see Welker retire there, and I think it would be fitting, but if he leaves, so what!? They don’t need to go get injury prone Amendola to fill Welker’s shoes; they don’t need to go get anybody to fill Welker’s shoes. They already have Wes Welker 2.0 on their roster. His name is Julian Edelman.

By: tigerlilac

tigerlilac — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:16:35 +0000

More foolish posts about the arrogance of Bill Belichick “think(ing) he can get it done without the best available players”. Actually, Bill has done that for 11 years. Talk all you want about winning Super Bowls but the Pats have won three, been in five, and lost in a couple of championships along that stretch as well. By definition, that is getting it done. The Patriots continnuously reload. Look whats happening to the Ravens after winning a SB.

By: mufngruf

mufngruf — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:01:08 +0000

the fact is that, if you take Welker and his YAC and chain moving stats out of the picture, Brady becomes a VERY ordinary QB.

By: superpats90

superpats90 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:00:33 +0000

Patriots will not budge with this. Its good for him to test the market but that front office always has a plan b. The minute Welker gets serious with another team, pats will have moved on. Danny amendola is just a phone call away! Its like chess lol

By: razzlejag

razzlejag — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:59:01 +0000

Come together already. Wes knows he thrives under Bill and Tom and that he’s a hero in NE; the team knows he’s perfect for their system.

OTOH, the Patriots aren’t big spenders (like Pittsburgh and GB) in FA and they are consistently (like Pittsburgh and GB) a solid playoff team (as long as the Jets, Bills and Dolphins continues to be inept- the Dolphins are stirring but this spending spree will come back to bite them.).

Tavon Austin at 29?

By: steelbydesign

steelbydesign — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:48:42 +0000

This situation is really weird to me. It seems by most accounts that neither the Patriots or Wes Welker really have the love for one another that they used to, but keep negotiating.

The pats don’t put a ton of value on Welker, and Welker doesn’t trust the Pats. Just walk away.

By: iammrbinky

iammrbinky — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:45:13 +0000

In 2006 Welker had 67 rec’s for 687 and one TD. His QB was a combination of Cleo Lemon and Joey Harrington. Wes will do fine with another QB in a different system.

By: patriots420

patriots420 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:40:33 +0000

Always knew the pats would end up getting welker signed back but it’s starting to become clear this could be ugly. Amendola is an option sure but I’m not positive the media has realized he can’t stay healthy.

Saying that… NE has been preparing for this scenario for 2+years, a “nuke” option could be possible like about 5 years ago.

Seeing an elite WR in his prime wither away with no qb sounds familiar, we have a young qb with potential in a year with no real commodities on the qb market, Trade Mallett and 2013 2nd or 3rd and 2014 5th for Fitzgerald and a 2013 6th.

I can always dream. I love this time of year.

By: texaned80

texaned80 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:39:40 +0000

Actually @ridingwithnohandlebars most of us were kinda happy( for Jacoby) to see him catch the game winner just minutes later. That plus his play in the Super Bowl are probably why his name was no mentioned

By: birdgang

birdgang — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:39:26 +0000

Re: ridingwithnohandlebars

Yea and in the 4th quarter Jacoby made he game tying touchdown CATCH to help the Ravens move onto the Super Bowl. He also had a pretty good game in the Bowl as well. I can forgive a 3rd quarter drop if you come thru big in the 4th. So just simmer down with that nonsense you speak of.

By: darkblue08

darkblue08 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:38:59 +0000

The problem with Welker in another offence is that he will fall a sleep between snaps.
But I cant believe he hasnt signed with a team yet. His a leader with 4-5 good years left. No matter what the offence is, you know he will get open and catch around 80-100 passes with a decent QB.

By: all4patriots

all4patriots — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:33:32 +0000

“WW will be nobody without TB passing to him”

-look at his production in 2008 under Cassel

These same people said that WW would be nobody without Randy Moss, and that he’d never be the same after the ACL injury.

wrong, wrong, wrong