PatsFanSince1993

Regarding Devry Henderson, I have watched a lot of Saints games over the years: Drew Brees has been my starting fantasy QB in more than one league. Devry might be just what we need: He is big, fast, and stretches the field. The reason Devry's production is just average is because Drew Brees has up to 5 other legitimate receiving options at times and he spreads it around even more than Tom Brady. I believe that he would open things up for us on offense.

supafly

Your point actually has even more merit when considering the fact that Welker was franchised last year at approx. 9.5 million dollars, which would probably point to his being guaranteed a higher chance at an actual deal this time around.

While it's certainly possible that the Pats could still franchise him at approx. 11 million+, I would think that the odds of that a second time around decrease quite a bit.

I guess it would all depend on what one man's opinion is though, as he may be fine with paying the franchise amount.

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supafly

There are some positives to consider when bringing up Henderson.

He initially ran a 4.36 forty yd dash. I don't imagine that's quite the case right now, but I would still think that he's got plenty of speed left.

He's played in a highly productive, high octane type of offense, so he's proven that he can probably have a higher chance at picking this kind of system up.

Looking at his past seasons, he has proven that he can stay healthy and he is durable.

I would think that some of his lack of production would lie in the fact that the Saints have had some serious other threats that Brees favors, specifically now with Colston, Graham, and Sproles.

I for one, would be all for the signing. I don't think it could really hurt any, put it that way. He doesn't have any character concerns, wouldn't be an extreme cap hit, and could very well offer something that's needed at the position...improvement and depth.

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1%er

Steve Smith from the Rams is a free agent. Used to he a good slot receiver with Eagles has fallen off the map the last few years. Your information is correct just mixing up the two have the same name.

Also to answer your original question I think Jerome Simpson would be a nice pickup. Has speed and size. Not going to be a number 1 but a younger Stallworth who could stretch the field without commanding a ton of targets and snaps.

Sciz

With Henderson, the biggest question I have is whether he is a legitimate threat to run all of the shorter underneath routes or whether he's the deep threat decoy that the Pats had in early 2010 and traded away.

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supafly

Ahhh, there lies the confusion.

I was beginning to doubt some of these free agent lists on the web. Thanks for the clarification. Much appreciated.

Most of us probably mistook the "real" S.Smith since there was so much talk last season about him being a FA. I know I did.

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1%er

I think you're missing the point of the thread. Even if we sign the WW we still need to add additional players.

There are some nice complementary WR who could help without commanding huge money.

supafly

I think that's a great point actually. Especially if we re-sign Welker, due to the fact that it will eat away at whatever room would be still left, depending upon "how" they would manage to do that of course. If it ends up being the franchise tag again and the same thing happens at the mid-July point where the two sides can't reach an agreement, they'll likely be stuck with that huge 11 million+ cap hit, which would seriously hurt our chances of making as much of an impact in free agency.

Although there are no big exciting draws from this list, it may provide an example of some of the kinds of players that the front office will be targeting. One man's trash is often another man's treasure, especially in the Bill Belichick and salary cap era. Unfortunately, the position of WR becomes a hard one to hit on, possibly due to the complexity of the offense, and possibly due to blind bad luck. Probably a combination of both on some level.

Of course we all want that brand new shiny toy from the draft too, so let's hope that happens early on and that he contributes nicely in year one right off the bat. In the meantime, they'll be targeting upgrades across the board, besides the WR2 (and hopefully the WR1) positions. In a perfect world, Edelman can be retained for reps and progression at WR4, gadget plays, and special teams awareness, and WR3 can be upgraded....possibly significantly.

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BradyBranch39

Yeah, whether or not Welker returns has no impact on my opinions of bringing in a guy like Henderson.

And yes, Sciz... this is my one concern with DH as well:

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supafly

I agree that the position needs replacing and upgrading whether or not Welker is retained or not, however "how" they go about doing that will have a lot of difference potentially depending upon their thoughts on Welker's future here.

Your concern is warranted with a guy like Henderson, but I also think a case could be made that we'll have that kind of concern for anyone chosen, not to mention the prospective targets in the draft too.

There's actually an argument that could even be made for something of a decoy or pure downfield threat coming in during 3 WR sets, although the offense would have to remain the same which would likely mean keeping Welker to try and have any success doing that.

I don't think we really need anything more than someone to catch about 30-35 balls a season, unless they would somehow be a true gem of gems and end up knocking Llyod down to the WR3 slot--which I don't see happening personally. That said, I don't have quite the same level of concern as you and Sciz do in that regard....unless we're talking about replacing Welker with a whole different kind of traditional downfield offense, and then it's an entirely different story of course.

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Patiently waiting to defend the next "bubble" player in this summer's training camp.....