On the first day of the Wes Welker departure crisis, we looked at the reasons he decided to leave for the Broncos.
Mostly it was because he felt consistently disrespected by the Patriots’ contract offers — they weren’t going to pay one cent more than they wanted to — and he finally had enough when this year’s deal was two years at $10 million total.
Comments
As much as you wanted to like Welker, he dropped a lot of balls at key moments during his time here. He was terrific... until it counted. I was expecting this article to talk about this, and was surprised it wasn't mentioned. I think this was also a key reason the Patriots weren't convinced he was worth that extra couple of million. I predict he'll be the same in Denver: exciting and reliable... until it counts.
How does having Wes Welker prevent the Patriots from developing a vertical outside the lines offense??
This is Greg Bedard spinning the company line. Only Tom E Curran is a bigger Patriot FO mouthpiece.
Hernandez and Gronk can't stay healthy and on the field.
THAT is why this offense has struggled in the playoffs.
And stop with the nonsense that Amendola is somehow not going to be this teams slot receiver.
Just stop it Greg.
Wes who?
This comment has been removed.
With the exception of Lloyd every one of the Pats receivers was injured and missed games. Left unsaid or unquestioned is TBs inaccuracy these last two years and what part the inaccuracy played into these injuries occuring.........Speaking of Lloyd, why were most of the throws to him headed into the ground?.......Against the Seahawks TB poorly threw a ball into the flat to Welker, which never should have been thrown, which caused WW to be clobbered by the their quite large CB......A comment from WW on TBs accuracy could answer the accuracy question..........How much affect did the passing of Tom Martinez, TBs quarterback mentor/guru have on TB?
I dunno, my confidance in Belichick is at an all tiomelow.
Lousy drafts, lousy free agent picks, SB losses.
I dont have the "trust in Bill" feeling any longer.
It is true the Pats don't have any big time outside receivers BUT that does nothing more than show how valuable Welker really was...if he had real good outside receivers ,like he will in Denver, he would have been better.
You know your gone when they sign your replace the day before they talk to you and offer you and insulting amount..adding insult to injury...one dropped pass doesn't make a super bowl win........they had 59 minutes to win...what happened in them?.......kraft is just a loud mouth owner...he could care less about the players ..to him its all about money,money,money.....I'm starting to get tired of st louis cast offs ..so far everyone they brought in sucked...here we bring in another cast off..........how much did he play in the last two years 12 out 32 games...thats durability for you..if he took half the hits welker did he'd be sitting in a rocking chair...let's be honest its all about money....kraft has it and bellicheck doesn't want to spend it...TB if I were you I'd renegotiate again.....you saw what happened to welker take all the money you can NOW ( ala Joe Flacko) ....what ever you return just makes them richer
I can't imagine how anyone, let alone the Pats hierarchy, could think that the Patriots will be better without Welker. On the other hand, they know a lot more about building a football team than I do. I think Brady will have a tough time maintaining his level of excellence without Welker to rescue him. And the flip side? He should be sensational in Denver.
There was probalby an idiot scribe in San Francisco who wrote a story, at the time, about how much better the 49er's would be without Jerry Rice.
That is as idiotic a statement as the one this idiot wrote!!
I can't wait to read how Greg will explain how much better the Patriots will be after Tom Brady is gone!!!
All the things the Pats need to do to get better they can best do with Wes in the slot. He's not the prooblem, and never has been. No one catches more passes tha he does in that position, or for that matter, any other position. He takes a tremendous beating every game and bounces right up and is first back to the huddle. The way he came back from ACL surgery is fantastic.
Not catching the key passes? How about Brady not throwing well? How about all the passes he caught in the game to make a pass "key?" He can not do it alone. When everyone else is getting injured he's the one playing on regardless of any bumps, bruises and pain. I only hope his replacement is able to play half the games.
The Pats need three things: a good defensive backfild, an outside deep threat, adn maybe a coach who isn't so into self he can see beyond the end of his hoody. "In Bill we trust" my foot.
For me: Go Broncos. Can't wait to see them blow out the mighty Pats when they come to Foxboroug!
And I'm going to have my Welker jersey framed.
By the way is this writer on two payrolls?
As long as we don't lose Danny Woodhead.....