What to do with Wes Welker?

[naF staP]

You show Wes Welker the money! Pay the man, sign him to a 2 or 3 year deal and be done with this nonsense! Wes Welker gets open and catches 72.64% (average over 6 years) of passes he is targeted. This is higher then any top 10 receiver in the NFL (Calvin Johnson 54.88%, Larry Fitzgerald 57.27%, Andre Johnson 63.85%, Reggie Wayne 62.82%, Victor Cruz 60.17%) Brandon Lloyd this year with the same QB is 56.82%.

If this doesn't prove how valuable Wes Welker is for this team then something is wrong. Welker needs to return and the Patriots need to understand that Wes Welker is a very special receiver.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I wondered why they gave gronkowski and hernandez expensive new contracts...I thought the advantage of a rookie deal was getting the players cheaply. I can see how Welker would want as much as they get, he's actually on the field more.

IMO the patriots are making a mistake in giving too many high dollar contracts, mankins, gronk, hernandez, mayo...

Ridley will want an upgrade and is deserved....Vollmer if he ever gets his back right, Solder would get a huge raise, Welker...is there enough money in the bank?

Under the new CBA, rookies can't renegotiate until after their third year.

 

[JJDChE]

3 more years in NE and WW is heading to Canton. Might be true if he goes elsewhere, too, but it's almost a definite if he stays here.

 

[Ivan]

Welker had a 2 year deal on the table, but turned it down for some reason (presumably money). We franchised him this year, and considering our Free Agents to be, we may want to use that tag on someone else (Vollmer possibly), not to mention the price tag for Welker would increase if we franchised him again.

It's clear that Welker is still the key cog that makes this offense go. Let's hope both parties can settle on a salary and have him remain in Foxboro for at least another 2 years. I would go no higher than 3, for obvious reasons.

Better yet just pay him 8 $ an hour.

Welker would be wise to respond to any more of the Patriots dogsh.t offers with both middle fingers. I won't blame him one bit for taking anything Denver offers just to stick it to the Patriots.

Much as I want Welker here he has been treated disgracefully by both the organization and the know nothing faux GM fans who have cheered on their garbage offers and begged for them to trade him for 2nd round draft picks.

 

[pazrul72]

Generally speaking I defer to IBBIT because he is smarter and better informed then me. This is one case where I feel he is wrong because Welker is special and worth every penny. To be fair I wear Welker's jersey every game day and he is my favorite patriot so I may be biased but damn it just pay the man. Offer him 3 years with the first 2 guaranteed so if he gets old you can cut him the third year but if he is still awesome you have one of the best receivers in the game. Note I didn't say slot receiver because at the end of the day Wes just makes plays.

 

[sevengables_2207]

The thought of Wes in Denver or on another AFC East team is a scary proposition IMO.

I feel like unless a viable replacement is found that they will have little recourse other than to offer Wes a market-level contract.

 

[olschool]

You show Wes Welker the money! Pay the man, sign him to a 2 or 3 year deal and be done with this nonsense! Wes Welker gets open and catches 72.64% (average over 6 years) of passes he is targeted. This is higher then any top 10 receiver in the NFL (Calvin Johnson 54.88%, Larry Fitzgerald 57.27%, Andre Johnson 63.85%, Reggie Wayne 62.82%, Victor Cruz 60.17%) Brandon Lloyd this year with the same QB is 56.82%.

If this doesn't prove how valuable Wes Welker is for this team then something is wrong. Welker needs to return and the Patriots need to understand that Wes Welker is a very special receiver.

On top of that, he's clutch on third down, and above all, he and Brady share the same brain. Why the Pats are playing hardball with him is beyond me.
If they let him go, be prepared for a sub-par offense. As has been proven time and again, not all receivers click well with Brady.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Hold on...Denver has much $$$ invested in Decker/Thomas not to mention Manning. They'll really pay another receiver big money? I do not see that happening at all.

Possibly a team like Oakland with Palmer or SD with Rivers I could see it happen.

Manning's slot binky is older than dirt and came back for him for one more run. Had he not Denver might not be daydreaming about seeding. They will want to replace Stokley. Denver will carry over more than $11M in unused cap space. According to ESPN they have just 1 projected FA starter to deal with.

Wes isn't dumb enough to go to Oakland or SD (who's too cheap to be interested anyway). Manning's cap is quite manageable on a 5 year deal. Thomas has 2 more years left on a 5 year $12M deal...Decker is signed thru 2013 on a cheap 4 year deal.

 

[Keep Up With The Joneses]

Between the initial 2-year offer, being franchised, the team attempting to phase him out, and his subsequent resurgence, there is no way Welker takes a below market deal from the Pats now, and they will probably have to pay significantly more for him then they would have before the season. Unless they really open up their purses we're going to see alot more of Slater and Edelman next season.

In my opinion if they can't or won't get it done, they should franchise him again and get all they can from him. As long as TB is here, they need to go all in to surround him with the best weapons possible.

 

[Ivan]

If they were serious they would offer 4 years 40 million with 25 guaranteed. He is more than worth it.

 

[DarrylS]

a 9-10 million dollar wide receiver is not supposed to drop the ball...

with that being said, sign him for three years and hope for the best, but do not overpay him..

 

[Double TE]

Manning's slot binky is older than dirt and came back for him for one more run. Had he not Denver might not be daydreaming about seeding. They will want to replace Stokley. Denver will carry over more than $11M in unused cap space. According to ESPN they have just 1 projected FA starter to deal with.

Wes isn't dumb enough to go to Oakland or SD (who's too cheap to be interested anyway). Manning's cap is quite manageable on a 5 year deal. Thomas has 2 more years left on a 5 year $12M deal...Decker is signed thru 2013 on a cheap 4 year deal.

So they'll use their cap space on a slot receiver? They'll need to upgrade at RB and Bailey is on his last legs. If they want to have mega $$ invested in a 37 yr old QB with a very bad neck and a 32 year old WR then let them do it ALL DAY.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

So he got $9Mil this year, doing the deal I suggested basically means $18mil guaranteed (including the $9mil this year) and $24mil total? Also includes $18mil guaranteed if you take this year's $9mil and next year's $9mil? He may not take it but he also may not get a better offer. I'd at least start there.

That's not the way it works. You don't get to count what you gave him last (this) season because he's already banked and earned it. You want to offer him 2 more years at $15M with $9M guaranteed. His market will be in excess of $8M per with more than half of it guaranteed. How much more and how much per year depends on the years. The fewer the years the higher dollars and more is guaranteed as a % of the contract. The more years the less per and % wise but more in up front dollars.

 

[kennyb]

If they were serious they would offer 4 years 40 million with 25 guaranteed. He is more than worth it.

It'd be smarter to just franchise him then. He is getting kind of old.

He should agree to a 3 year, 25M, with 12 guaranteed, for the good of the team and his own legacy so to speak.

 

[Double TE]

That's not the way it works. You don't get to count what you gave him last (this) season because he's already banked and earned it. You want to offer him 2 more years at $15M with $9M guaranteed. His market will be in excess of $8M per with more than half of it guaranteed. How much more and how much per year depends on the years. The fewer the years the higher dollars and more is guaranteed as a % of the contract. The more years the less per and % wise but more in up front dollars.

I agree, but I'd start there. I think he and Brady are BFFs so they should be able to get something done and keep him here.

 

[DaBruinz]

He and Brady are buds and he is less a speed guy but more a quickness guy. I'd sign him for two years at $15Mil with $9Mil guaranteed.

It will take more than that to sign Welker. You seem to have missed where he turned down the 2 yr/$16M contract that was on the table prior to this year.

The Pats will need to make it a 3 year deal worth $27M and guarantee at least 11million of it.

 

[mosi]

just pay the man.

Not more needs to be said.

 

[Ivan]

So they'll use their cap space on a slot receiver? They'll need to upgrade at RB and Bailey is on his last legs. If they want to have mega $$ invested in a 37 yr old QB with a very bad neck and a 32 year old WR then let them do it ALL DAY.

They will use their money on one of the best WR's to ever play football so their 100 $ million QB will have his best shot at another ring. Anyone who tries to denigrate Welker with the "slot receiver" label is a moron. It took Jerry Rice over 15 years to get his 17 games with 10 catches record, Welker will break it with a decade to spare.

Once again, for the third season running many Patriot fans have talked out of their asses about Welker and been 100% wrong, but here they are once again spewing garbage and begging the Patriots to lowball him again. The Patriots have a bright future but letting Welker walk is the one thing they could do to seriously damage it.

It would be really nice to see the people who have been completely wrong about Welker own up to it instead of tripling down on their foolishness.

 

[DaBruinz]

Hold on...Denver has much $$$ invested in Decker/Thomas not to mention Manning. They'll really pay another receiver big money? I do not see that happening at all.

Possibly a team like Oakland with Palmer or SD with Rivers I could see it happen.

Decker and Thomas are on their rookie deals. So there isn't a TON of money tied up there. Maybe 3Mill in total.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

So they'll use their cap space on a slot receiver? They'll need to upgrade at RB and Bailey is on his last legs. If they want to have mega $$ invested in a 37 yr old QB with a very bad neck and a 32 year old WR then let them do it ALL DAY.

Working out well so far... And Manning's neck is better now than it's been in years. And that thing with the forehead that sits atop it has always been pretty valuable... Although the Broncos structured his deal with neck injury protection bailouts through 2014 and no dead cap unless they choose to restructure at some point for flexibility when the cap begins to rise substantially in 2015-16. And they have more cap space than what it would cost them to sign Welker. That $11M is just carryover unused in 2012.

There is also this thing known as the draft where they will likely focus attention where replacements to their D and upgrades or eventual replacements elsewhere are concerned. Kind of like what we do.