Anyone expecting a quick return to the Patriots for wide receiver Wes Welker appears to be in for some disappointment.
On the heels of word that the Patriots and Welker were “miles apart” in their negotiations on a new contract comes a report from Albert Breer of the NFL Network that offers more evidence that Welker could be shuffling off down the road to another team. After receiving an offer that was “substantially lower than expected,” Breer reports that Welker “is seriously considering bolting” the Patriots and has started looking at offers from other teams.
Now’s a good time for a reminder that the negotiation process involves a lot of posturing and things like “considering bolting” and soliciting offers from others are a good way to spur an offer that’s a bit more to your liking from the original suitor. That feels like it would be especially true in this case since Welker is free to go sign with anyone else in the league and has not chosen to do so as yet.
That could be because he thinks the Patriots offense offers him the best chance of success, it could be because the other offers aren’t much better than what he’s seen from the Patriots or it could be a combination of the two. Either way, it’s looking like free agency hasn’t opened exactly the way Welker might have hoped.