ThatllMoveTheChains!!!

To be fair Welker's the best slot receiver of all time, which I think by definition makes him irreplaceable.

Deus Irae

Ummmm........ You've basically just killed your own argument.

Moss, Seymour Asante....

None were adequately replaced, to the team's detriment.

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

Ivan

Actually what I said was that Lloyd's YAC was non-exxistent, and while I did support letting him go and paying Welker I acknowledged I was wrong a few posts later when someone pointed out that it would cost them money, not save them some.

Ivan

Brady's just a system QB, just plug in Mallett, no big deal...........................


HOF quality players are a dime a dozen, just grab another one off the shelf, it will be fine even if that players has demonstrated they are only back-up material.

ATippett56

Andrew Hawkins will be an ERFA.

Andrew Hawkins - Cincinnati Bengals - 2013 Player Profile - Rotoworld.com

Click view contract details for further information.

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The End of the Chad Ochostinko Era!

AndyJohnson

No one is irreplacable. But Welker is a vital part of the team, it terms of production and scheme as well as forcing the defenses hand.
Moss was easily replaced by someone who gave effort. Samuel was not as good as his price, and Seymour was demanding to be severely overpaid, so we traded him while something could be obtained. Welker does not fit any of those defintions.

Thats like saying we don't need Gronk because the Broncos get by with Tamme.

ThatllMoveTheChains!!!

Actually you did.

And for good measure here's Deus' response to my post calling you out for saying he was disappearing.

Which apparently never happened either...

Deus Irae

Yes, it did. The numbers are what they are. They also had a talk with Lloyd, per the reports. I was a big proponent of bringing Lloyd in. In fact, I liked him last year:

Brandon Lloyd on the trading block

And here's my offseason wish list:

Team Needs going into next season


I'm fine and happy with what Lloyd's been. He was #2 on my WR wish list behind the (admitted) pipe dream of Mike Wallace, and he's been growing into the role of secondary receiver who works the middle-deep. But let's not pretend that he didn't have some issues working into things, particularly when he was being used at the primary option rather than a secondary one.

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

ATippett56

What a bunch of baloney.

The New England Patriots brought back former wide receivers Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth during the off-season. The final regular season production is denoted below:

Jabar Gaffney - 0 receptions
Donte Stallworth - 1 reception

Both Gaffney and Stallworth are younger than Stokley.

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The End of the Chad Ochostinko Era!

supafly

Setting aside the most obvious choice of talent level/experience etc, my two biggest concerns with trying to replace Welker with Edelman would be the lost chemistry with Brady/Welker, and the fact that Edelman has not really proven himself to be very durable so far.

I will agree with the notion that "Edelman can probably play it," although there would certainly be some downside to that along with lost production, just due to the talent level alone. When you add in the injury concerns to a position that Belichick himself admitted that "Welker gets blown up pretty good several times a game," (paraphrasing) there becomes a big question as to how effectively Edelman would be able to play it.

I do agree with you, I think that Edelman has some niches that he fills nicely, and is still being developed and worked on. I think that he does some things well, and could even continue to improve more on the outside. It would seem that they recognize something there, and were attempting to continue to bring it out. Of course there is the ST effectiveness, the trick plays, and the more shallow routes that he and Brady had been working on together since last offseason.

I think Edelman has a role here, and I think he stays, but I also don't want to fall into the trap that he would be staying to "replace" Welker or his production, just due to that being nearly impossible and the fact that Belichick seems to like some of the other qualities about him as a football player.

The greatest thing about Welker to me is his toughness, he has to be one of the toughest SOB's that has played in awhile...On top of that, Brady really likes having him here and appreciates the fact that he knows where he's going to be pretty much all the time. And of course he continues to produce at a top level.

I'm all for giving Welker a nice contract within reason. My initial suggestion was 2/20 just due to the fact that I was leery of the front office's hints that they may not want to give him too long term of a deal. If they are good with 3/30, then all the better. He deserves it and should be retained as the #1 priority--clearly.

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