In the aftermath of the news that the Patriots lost receiver Wes Welker to the Broncos, a source close to New England quarterback Tom Brady was “beyond enraged” by the news.
Another (or perhaps the same) source close to Brady continues to talk after the decision to replace Welker with Danny Amendola. And the source close to Brady isn’t very happy.
“He’s got so much pressure on his shoulders now — again,” the source close to Brady told Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports. “If the offense doesn’t perform at a high level, they’re screwed. This is unbelievable. It’s hard not to feel like they’ve sold him out.”
It’s easy to understand that sentiment. Two weeks and two days after Brady agreed to a contract extension that created $15 million in cap space over the next two years, the Pats refused to spend $12 million of it on Welker.
The end result, per the source close to Brady, is that Brady “will feel like he’s been pierced in the heart.”
That’s a little extreme. After all, the Patriots won three Super Bowls without Welker, and they’ve won none with him. They continue to have an aggressive, versatile offense, and they’ll surely continue to be serious contenders in the AFC.
Still, with all the hype regarding the question of whether and to what extent Brady “took less” and whether the Patriots would parlay that gesture into a decision to keep players like Welker around, it’s hard not to wonder whether Brady will be upset.
We already know that one or more sources close to him are.