Earlier on Monday, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and NBC reported that wide receiver Wes Welker is widely believed to be staying with the Patriots.
Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe is beating the same drum and also hears from multiple sources that the team would like to wrap up a new contract for cornerback Aqib Talib “soon.” The Patriots traded a fourth-round pick to the Buccaneers during the 2012 season to acquire Talib and he stepped right into a leading role in their secondary, two reasons why it makes sense that they’d want him back.
Bedard thinks that the Patriots are likely trying to push the flooded cornerback market rationale to Talib in hopes of getting him to agree to a deal. Many people expect the number of cornerbacks on the market to serve as a governor on salaries across the board and the Patriots could try to convince Talib that he could wind up taking a lesser deal on the open market when/if things play out that way.
Bedard also thinks the Patriots will be bidders for corners like Nnamdi Asomugha, Cary Williams, Keenan Lewis and Brice McCain if they are able to secure Talib’s return.