Wes Welker didn’t take a leap of faith leaving Foxborough. He was pushed off a contractual cliff by the Patriots.
Welker and the Patriots were locked in a staring match, and instead of blinking, Welker simply turned his gaze out West to the Denver Broncos, who gave him a two-year, $12 million deal Wednesday. Staring contests are a waste of time, and so is trying to get the Patriots to value a player they feel owes them and not the other way around.
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Getting very tired of the Patriots reverence for their system. Losing players like Welker takes the fun out of watching the team. Making it harder for me to remained interested in this heartless team.
Absolutely correct. As fans we root for players on the team not the size of Krafty Bob's wallet. BB's belief that all players, save the qb are just guys and interchangeable makes the team very difficult to root for. The coaches inability to put together a defense is the true indictment on his theory as he has no Brady on the D.
If you are tired of Bill Belichick, you know the coach with the 75% winning % since 2007..........5 Superbowl appearences and three superbowlchampionships, sell me your tickets The waiting list is as long as Gaspers's lack of creativity. By the way, withoout Brady and teh recenly released Cassll as quarterback, they finished 11-5 and beat the Superbowl participant cardinal 47-7 at the end of the year. Go root for the Sox and that exemplary management team
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Spot on story. I was always amazed at the way Wes always bounced back up after taking ugly hits. Very foolish decision by the Patriots.
I've loved watching Welker play since he was with the Dolphins, but "back up the Brinks truck"? The rest of the league agreed. He could have stayed here and made more with incentives. Let's see how Denver does with a much tougher scheudle next season. But I do wish him well.
I have lost all faith in Belichek and Kraft. If the Patriots do make the playoffs this year, they won't last long.
So mgoad, you want to go back to the good old days before Kraft and Belichek? Better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool than to open you mouth and remove all doubt!
....and how many super bowls did the Pat's win with Welker??? great stats...no rings
Your expectations are unreasonable.
Ok, you want to play that game? How many SB's have they won as they let impact players in impact positions (Law, Milloy, Seymor, Samuel) leave? ZERO. And, mr. NFL, how many CB, Safety, Pass Rushers have they drafted, developed and signed in the last 5-6 seasons? ZERO (need to give Chandler Jones more time as 1 season is not an indication of a career)....
Bottom line- BB 's defficiency has been to let impact players in impact positions leave has hurt this team. He jus tdid the same thing in the WR position.
You are right! Tom Brady must be wondering what happened to the franchise while he was out of town. Mr.Kraft needs to come down out of the clouds and take care of his team.
He's too busy with his bim girlfriend.
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I'll never understand refusing to give Welker $12 million for 2 years in order to sign Amendola for $31 million over 5 years. I lived in Lubbock Texas when both played at Texas Tech - seen them both perform a number of times - Amendola is a nice player but he is not close to being Wes Welker unless he has died and been reincarnated as a football player that I have never seen play. Injury or no injury for Amendola - the only way this will look like a good decision for the Pats is if Welker gets hurt. If they both play the difference will be obvious to all.
I'm not at all sure I'm going to be turning on pro football at all this year. Too much greed on the owners end of things. Why sit around and watch guys destroy their bodies, minds, and futures? It's particularly hard to remember that the folks who are benefitting the most are sitting in the offices of the teams, the television networks, the ad agencies, the paraphenelia companies, and the network of other related industries that are all feasting on the physical destruction suffered only by the players.
"I did what was in the best interests of the team." "I'll just talk about the players who are here."
Let's see...... do I want to pay market and above value for 5 or 6 of my players, not have enough under the cap to keep the rest of the team and deal with cap issues every few years ( See NY Jets), or do I shrewdly distribute the money across a wider group of players, maintain a competitive team for over 12 years and get into the playoffs and a chance for the Superbowl every year? Hmmmmmmmm.... I think I'll take the latter. You have to remember folks, every team has the same amount of money to spend up to each year, it is not like you can spend anything you want. This keeps the competitive balance.
I'm just as unhappy with losing Welker than anyone else, however remember, the Patriots paid him $18M over the past 5 years and offered $10m for the next two for a 32 year old receiver. That's $28M to play a game, garner commercial endorsements and be a member of a team that strives to be competitive each and every year. Don't cry for Wes, he'll be fine with Peyton and Tom will be fine with Danny and Julian, and the Patriots will be in the hunt for the Superbowl next year. Let's see what the Pats do in the next few days before we pass judgment.
Let's give the team that's given us a winner for the past dozen years the opportunity to build the 2013 edition.
Brady will be fine with those two, except when they are hurt and not on the field. And Amedola averages more injury time than Woodhead or Adelman. Last I checked, even Brady can't throw to a guy sitting on the sidelines.
I think when all is said and done - that $18 million paid over the past few years and the $12 million that he will earn over the next 2 years will look like the bargain of all time compared to what Amendola will deliver to the team. Welker leaves the Pats with almost 700 receptions - I doubt that the team will get a third of that from Amendola. He is injury-prone and he is not as good. Amendola will be ok but how does a team improve by replacing "the heart and soul of the team" (Tom Brady's words) with an ok receiver. The defense better be a touchdown per game better next year.
I wonder how the locker room feels seeing another accomplished veteran player get treated like crap. I know you don't pay for past performance in the NFL but, as Chris pointed out, that first contract he signed was an incredible bargain for the Pats. He should have been paid.
It's not the "system" that made him the second best offensive player to Brady. It's his toughness, work ethic and being on the same page (i.e. route running, reading defenses) with Brady that made him so good. You don't give Welker his money but you pay Chad Johnson $6 million (stupid), bring in receivers who can't pick up your offense, can't draft receivers to save your life and pay guys who are highly talented but can't stay on the field (Hernandez, Gronk).
I could understand letting Welker go if they felt Brady was too dependent on him and that that style of offense wouldn't win a championship. Bringing in Amendola makes it look like they'll keep the offense the same but try using an injury prone player, who may never develop the repoire with Brady, in Welker's place saving a million or two. Josh McDaniels is a great tactician but his personnel moves have been highly suspect. Being a great coach/tactician doesn't necessarily mean you're a good talent evaluator, right Bill?
Couldn't agree more and as someone who has seen both play numerous times at Texas Tech I don't think that anyone will be remotely comparing Danny Amendola to Wes Welker in 5 years - even if the team lucks out and he never gets hurt. Amendola is a good player but is a huge step down from Welker.
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I loved Welker as much as anyone. But it's the system that wins the most games in salary cap football. We of course fall in like with individual players, but when ever something like this happens I look back to the pre Kraft, pre Belichek Patriots and it becomes easier to bear.
Playing Monday morning quarteback with this organization dosen't work because that is short term thinking. They may not always be right, but they are the majority of the time and the have the records to prove it. Show some class and be thankful. I'm not saying you can't disagree but for you morons who throw out the "I've lost all respect" and "Belijerk" go watch cartoons they are more within your depth grasp.
sorry, you are wrong on this one. If welker signed for 7-10m more than what we expected then I would agree but 2m annual difference for the most productive and healthy WR in the NFL who knows the system and has been the backbone of this WR/TE group for 6 seasons? No welker in 2011 and 2012 and no SB or no AFC championship appearance.
Sorry, have to say it again, given how this played out you are wrong on this one.
Also, if we are "monday morning QB'ing" then how do you explain for the last 5-6 seasons BB's "obtuseness" in signing and drafting an inpact Safety and Cornerback? He's missed consistently in FA and via the draft and yet we trded for a guy (Talib) who remains unsigned by the Pats. It took him 4 seasons to finally draft a Pass Rusher- geez, if only we had Jones in 2007 and 2012? Maybe some pressure on Manning would have made a difference?
NFL Football is a business. The four and one half year difference in Welker's age and Amendola's age is a football lifetime. The Patriots are well aware of Welker's merits but also aware of the number of devastating hits he has absorbed. He has been concussed more than once. Welker knows this too. He took what he could get and ended up with another Hall of Fame quarterback and a chance at a ring. The Patriots decided to get younger at that position with a similar receiver for the same money per year over a longer span. There is no loyalty. It's business. Cold.
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Good Comments Homewrecker, it's a cold business. Welker did a lot for this team's success, but the Patriots felt at this time there was a specific value for him to stay without sucking up cap space and Wes felt differently. Both Welker and the Pats made out pretty well here; it's now time to move on to the roster development to improve competitiveness for 2013.
Kraft is spending too much time with that blond twenty-five old who could be his granddaughter. He has lost his mind in letting Welker walk.
Maybe she thought Wes was cute!
Maybe so, but if you're going to lose your mind, that sure sounds like a fun way to do it!
1. Pats played all of us, and welker, as they had no intention signing him. Othrwise they would have spoken to him in the 2-week window leading up to the FA process
2. They announced the signing of Amendola hours after Welker left- that was your Plan A. So, to confirm: Plan A was to sign Amdola- a guy who has played 12 games over 2 seasons to the same short term contract as to what Welker got from Denver.
3. One would think- OK, they are going to address the much needed CB & Safety situation- how so? They acquired Talib for a 4th rounder and he had shown us how the secondary improved by ~ 100%. Here we are- 4 days past FA and crickets on singing ANY CB.
4. Hubris, Hubris, Hubris. In Bill we longer trust - or if we do we have plenty of reservations. Lack of addressing the need for an Impact CB, pass Rusher, Safety- when will he learn? Year in Year out these are the same problems which have palgued this team- I guess he know more than us when it comes to draftng and signing CB's.
This hubris further reared it's ugly head in 2009 when he decided it was best to go for it on his own 28 yard line versus punting....against Peyton Manning. His argument? A guy like Manning can score from anywhere on the field- but apparently BB- the genius- knew that Manning would score from his own 35 (assuming Pats made a 35 yd punt) and instead rolled the bones on letting him "try" to score from the Pats own 28. This, my friends is the epitome of hubris.
Losing WW, the guy that gets open quickly, may cause Brady to get clobbered..........the plus side for WW is that he won't get his bell rung as often trying to catch poorly thrown balls.....
All of the comments in here crying about Wes leaving and throwing hate at Bob and Bill make you sound like spoiled children and downright fools. All players are expendable i.e. Montana, Rice just to name a couple. You as an owner and h.c. don't fall in love with players because as soon as you do, you rule with emotions over common sense. Since you all hate the owner and head coach so much, why don't we go back to the glory days before they got here? oh, wait, there were NO glory days? What a bunch of tampon wearing ladies posting here today.
Welker's had 5 great, productive years here and will likely be productive going forward, especially being paired up with Manning. I don't think not being in favor of the move makes you a "bunch of tampon wearing ladies". Kraft's been a great owner and Bill's heading to the Hall of Fame but they do make mistakes. There's nothing wrong with calling them out if you feel like they've made another. Beats being a lemming.
Bendogger, I'm not a "lemming" as you put it. What I'm saying is that while it is obvious all owners and coaches make errors, this will not turn out to be one of them. If Welker had been 27 or 28 at this point in his career instead of 32 which he will turn in may, then he would still be a Patriot. The five year difference is huge, especially at running back and wide receiver. So while we are all entitled to call out ownership and the head coach for bad decisions, this is not going to be one of them. The tampon comment is accurate for many of the whining people in here who constantly complain about Robert Kraft and Bill Belichek which annoys the hell out of me considering what we had for decades before they came along.
Karma is a b*tchh when she wants to be and right now, I hope she bites them in the a*s.
I cannot imagine how TB must feel right now. That makes that whole "contract restructure" a farce.
This is a sad day for NE, and an ever sadder day for me.
To clearify fransdaughter, not a sad day for you, YOU ARE JUST SAD TO BEGIN WITH!
Why do the Krafts and BB have to win every player contract negotiation? Krafty Bob looks foolish today after his comments earlier this week about WW being a "Patriot for life". How do they justify paying the oft injured Amendola while stiffing WW? I hope TB12 is pissed off as you allude to in the piece. Until BB gets some defensive studs SB #4 is just a mirage.
Tom Brady is not a moron. He understands that football is a brytal and cold business and he has been in the organization long enough to understand how it works here. Tom saw the Welker "writing on the wall" last year and still he decided re-structure and re-negiotiate his own contract...he wanted to end his career as a Patriot and so he did what was best for him. Wes did the same. He could have taken the deal offerd in 2011 or even the one offered this year. He chose to leave. Tom and Wes are also close personal friends so no doubt there were conversations happening all along between the two. This was no surprise for Tom...no surprise at all.
I don't think we really know anything about the machinations of this situation - we eventually will know more. IMO, this may be the bad deal that finally breaks the fans' blind loyalty to the Pats organization. Not likely that Amendola lasts a full season in any of the five years of his contract.
Unfortunately, big drops in big games on big stages are more important in the NFL than welts and stats.
The Baltimore game "drop" this year was a "drop" but excuse me the "drop" in the Super Bowl was a poorly thrown pass that was catchable with effort by a very good receiver - Welker is a very good receiver and he normally catches that pass but he didn't that one so that particular historic "drop" was a joint effort - with your reasoning then Brady should be heading out the door too since it has been a long time since he has won a Super Bowl and he has made mistakes on "big stages" over the past few years.
Well put my brother... Pats drop the ball and ultimately were disloyal to Us and Welker...
I would contend that the Super Ball so called drop - was not a routine play... It all looks easier
from my couch at home.
What does it say about Wes Welker that he put two million dollars ahead of him and the Patriots, especially Tom Brady after Brady did what he did for the team? Welker wanted respect and the Patriots gave him millions of dollars in respect the past five years. See ya Wes, good luck catching Peyton's throws, I mean interceptions in Denver.
We'll all miss Wes; they don't make many players like him. But it is a business and the Pats for the most part have gotten good value for most of the players they pay.
I like and admire Welker for his skill and guts mostly, but Amendola is also skilled, gutsy, is 5 years younger and demands much less money which will allow the Pats to trade and sign someone like Larry Fitzgerald who wants out of AZ. Sentiments aside, I like the move.
Business is business. This was a business decision plain and simple. Althoug, I don't get the signing of Amendola who most believe is not as good as Welker and appears to be injury prone. But, I really hope they sign Talib. That is what this team really needs; help in the secondary. After all, they have a strategy that is mostly about Gronk and Hernandez and complimenting that with a good running game. Get help in the secondary and everthing will be ok. Good luck to Wes in Denver, he'll need it.