The Patriots and free agent receiver Wes Welker have a lot of work to do if they want to get a deal done.
As the second day of free agency begins, Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald reports that a deal “isn’t anywhere near close to happening” and that the Patriots and Welker’s camp are “miles apart.” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network described talks between the Patriots and Welker as “over.”
That doesn’t mean those talks couldn’t start again. But it does mean the Patriots, who say they want Welker to stay with the team for the rest of his career, haven’t offered him anything resembling the kind of contract that he believes a receiver who has topped 110 catches in five of the last six seasons deserves.
The problem for Welker is that teams don’t pay for what you’ve done in the past. Teams pay for what they think you can do in the future. And as great as Welker has been in New England, other teams aren’t lining up to offer him huge money because they’re not convinced he can replicate his success in any other offense.
Which means it’s still possible that Welker will survey free agency and discover that no team is offering him more money than New England. Even if the money New England is offering is a lot less than Welker wants.