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Welker isn't saying Welker is upset. People who own computers and post here are saying he is. Worlds of difference.
I agree. I said that Welker had nothing to be upset about in terms of Gronk's contract.
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid
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I never said Wes was unhappy. Simply that his leaving would be one part of two options that I feel are likely.
Either way, the "mutually agreeable" gronk signing makes it easier to figure contract numbers. Hell maybe Welker gets a front loaded contract with options and performance bonuses tied in, but at a level that allows an a early promotion for Hernandez as well. This is simply homer pipe dream, but let a guy fantasize...
Realistically, the season plays on from here in the offensive side (wr/te anyway), and those that perform get the money next year (hern, lloyd, Gaffney, Wes) in some combination of who has what value compared to perceived team resources left. I think hern, Gaffney and Lloyd make it back with money being set aside for the rb's and line after this year as well...
I still think Welker ends up coming back for a one day deal after playing the rest if his ball out of the flying Elvis
I think he's speculating a bit here, and being a bit harsh.
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid
"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi
I think he's speculating a bit here, and being a bit harsh.
I don't think they'd franchise him if that was the truth. I think most people can agree that the contract issues aren't about what he is now, it's about concerns over what he will be in another 2-3 years.
The problem with the WRs is the Patriots haven't drafted a good one in TEN years. Branch is who I'm referring to, and for all the glory, he's never topped 1000 yards. Yes, it's true, the Pats have never drafted a 1000 yard OR pro bowl receiver in the Brady era. I don't recall any studs drafted by Belichick in Cleveland either. They obviously have a problem evaluating young talent and how they fit with their philosophy. They've had better luck in free agency. Considering how critical it is to have financial resources for WR, the team is just being extremely careful with the Welker situation. I predict the former, where Welker caves in with a 2 yr, 20M deal.
In terms of Hernandez, I don't really think the Gronk extension is relevant. If anything, they now have more leverage on AH because they could tag him as a TE, similar to what the Packers did with Finley.
The Pats have a real disadvantage when it comes to evaluating WRs in college. The Pats run arguably the most complicated offense or at least in the top three in the league. The problem is no one runs nearly as complicated offense in college. Not even close. That means the Pats cannot really gather whether a WR will pick up the Pats' system.
For example, the Pats spent a lot of time with Chad Jackson grilling him on plays and situational football. He looked like he was going to grasp the offense with ease based on that. He could never really grasp the offense when he got here.
As stated, the Pats do have other avenues to get WRs that they have been far more successful at. They have gotten some very good WRs via free agency and trades including Welker. I am sure the Pats will find replacements when they need to.
What are Welker and his agent looking for? I don't know and I guarantee you don't. What if he's been looking for 4 x $7M+ and $18M guaranteed? I do know what they offered him (2 years $16M guaranteed) when added to his salary remaining last season when he was just 30 would have resulted in a 3 year $19M deal, or just over $6M per. That's why it didn't get done. Then he went out and put up his best season to date...on the heels of 4 pretty damned impressive seasons despite suffering a torn ACL at one point.
It's not an either or choice. This team can afford Gronk and Welker and Ahern at least for the next 3-4 years. They have one 30 year old WR signed for 3 years and another 31 year old WR signed for 2 years for about $4.5M and two more over 30's who will play for as long as they want them to for about a million per (but both may be done after this season) and they have a 7th round rookie who has never set foot on an NFL field signed for bupkiss for 4 years - all under contract for cheap $$$.
Gronk's deal hits the cap for the next 2 years at just over $2M per, then it hits at $5-6M+ for the next 4 years. Hernandez won't top that whether extended or not. Gronk's next 4 years guarantees are based on 2 rookie salary only years and two years as if tagged. Why not do the same for Welker only frontload the cap. 4 years $18.5M guaranteed (tag salary plus $9M guaranteed option bonus vs. $21M total if tagged but there is no guarantee he would be or will be healthy and get another $9M guaranteed on a deal somewhere else in 2013 - so time value of money discount applied) and 3 years of unguaranteed salary at $3-4M (that are essentially meaningless as he may or may not see those or could be asked to restructure and reduce salary if he's not still producing at a 90+ reception or thousand yard pace). Cap hits $11.25, $6.25M, $5.25M or $2M less if forced to restructure to vet min., $5.25M or again $2M less if restructured to vet min. You could even fluff the total value of the deal with $3-4M more in meaningless backend salaries. Dead cap if instead cut in 4th year (2015) $2.25M. The dead cap on Chad's sunk cost this year is $3M...so obviously NBD.
They can afford all 3 over the next 3-4 seasons. The key is Hernandez being reasonable and getting a Gronk light deal later this season or waiting to be tagged, and tagged again, and frankly either option will work. If on the other hand he's not reasonable it won't matter what Welker or Gronk did, he probably won't be here.
And please remember, those TE's have only produced on a truly high level once to date. Wes has done it consistently for 5 years in succession.
Actually I think his speculation is spot on. It's as if in expecting a solid return from Welker from the outset they came to devalue his excess contributions. And they certainly appear to believe they have the upper hand relative to his desire to remain here. Made a similar mistake with Branch a long time ago. And spent a lot of $$ and lived to regret it. The 2009 playoff meltdown should have taught them a lesson about more than the D. It always struck me as odd that Welker has never been named a captain, even as he consistently is the most productive weapon on offense and the guy at the post game podium weekly leading into or following up on Tommy's company line mantra, and I do think they maintain a tumb on the scale when the ballots are tallied. They say they want him to retire as a Patriot, but they seem to want to decide for him when that will be...and for some reason it's sooner than later and that is at the moment etched in stone. Odd mindset given his history.
The offer they made him last fall, 2 years $16M guaranteed (to what exent we do not know) was really a 3 year $19M deal or an average of $6M per. Weak sauce if not for concern over the ACL. But then coming off a record setting season, absent the ability to amortize back, the guaranteed money offer has decreased. It's one thing for a team to butt heads with a player looking for top of the market money for 5+ years. Somehow, I don't think that is the case here or the team would have leaked that as they did with Branch and Asante. Really has created a WTF situation for most observers where the only rationale they can muster is his age (which many then fall into the habit of exagerating because just turning 31 makes less sense from the rationale standpoint) or desire to move away from what has long been their ace in the hole, Tom having a rapore with a safety valve option he basically occupies a brain wave with, because they finally have productive 2 TE's and hopefully finally have a couple of outside the numbers WR's. None of which has yet proven to be consistently bankable, though. Or Bill is having flashbacks to a slot receiver on a team he once coached who was never in Wes' league and they are suddenly concerned about long term impact/usage ramifications (although they weren't overly concerned about usage ramifications over the last 3-4 seasons...when he was a bargain).
Bedard is clearly a fan, that was evident when he went ballistic over the criticism Welker endured after the SB game. I have a feeling though he won't state it he wouldn't be surprised if that minsdet doesn't still resonate somewhat within the FO.
I hope his teamates have the balls and the brains to insure he is a captain this season. That he hasn't been on a team grappling with leadership voids over the last few seasons is befuddling. If on the other hand Gronk gets the nod...you will know the thumb is sending the team a message and attempting to engineer an outcome like they attempted to do with Moss and AD...and even at times Seymour and Warren and Harrison and Graham and Vince and Mayo (not to mention 2011's Mankins, McCourty and Slater...). They won't have Faulk to split the difference or an established OL pecking order with Light retired and Mankins likely on PUP, so it will be enlightening to see where else the votes might go...and to mull over the why.
David Dunn is one of the more respected and big names in the business and his agency, Athletes First, which he opened after a messy partnership breakup with former super agent Leigh Steinberg who is now bankrupt and out of business, has repped several Pats players most recent seasons and supposedly always had a good relationship with them. He was Cassel's agent. And Big Bang Clock's. His current NEP clients include Bequette, Dennard, Mallett, Solder, Vereen, Waters...and Wes. So it's not like they are avoiding his clients as they have in the past with say Condon.
David Dunn is one of the more respected and big names in the business and his agency, Athletes First, which he opened after a messy partnership breakup with former super agent Leigh Steinberg who is now bankrupt and out of business, has repped several Pats players most recent seasons and supposedly always had a good relationship with them. He was Cassel's agent. And Big Bang Clock's. His current NEP clients include Bequette, Dennard, Mallett, Solder, Vereen, Waters...and Wes. So it's not like they are avoiding his clients as they have in the past with say Condon.
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Re: Wes re Gronk and hernandez...
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