Let's all settle down

[Brady2Moss]

I think people are getting a bit crazy here over the loss of Welker. I didn't want him back for huge dollars, but apparently we could have had him for a real steal. Bill didn't want to do it he clearly has other plans.

Welker did a good job here, but consistently our offense was shut down in the playoffs at some point during his tenure. Not all his fault, but the solution appears not to involve him. Bedard reported that the Patriots grinded over the Ravens tape to see what they had to do to be better. And just maybe they realized it was to move to a different type of offense.

Either way they have cap space. They are going to spend to the cap and have a damn good team. I personally hope they use it on impact players instead of old guys, but either way they'll have a good team.

Offense will be fine there is no way in hell that Welker makes Brady, and he will find a way to put up 400-500 points. It's on Bill now to get a defense that can't get some freaking stops.

 

[Froob]

It's not just the defense. The offense has **** the bed multiple times in the playoffs losing with the scores of 14(2), 21, 17, and 13. Hope BB has something up his sleeve. Get Amendola and maybe bring DHB at the vet minimum? Unless he's gonna try to pull off a trade.

 

[BadMoFo]

I think people are getting a bit crazy here over the loss of Welker. I didn't want him back for huge dollars, but apparently we could have had him for a real steal. Bill didn't want to do it he clearly has other plans.

Welker did a good job here, but consistently our offense was shut down in the playoffs at some point during his tenure. Not all his fault, but the solution appears not to involve him. Bedard reported that the Patriots grinded over the Ravens tape to see what they had to do to be better. And just maybe they realized it was to move to a different type of offense.

Either way they have cap space. They are going to spend to the cap and have a damn good team. I personally hope they use it on impact players instead of old guys, but either way they'll have a good team.

Offense will be fine there is no way in hell that Welker makes Brady, and he will find a way to put up 400-500 points. It's on Bill now to get a defense that can't get some freaking stops.

That's bull, we could have kept Welker and still evolved into this new offense, even if he wasn't the focal point. He wasn't going to cost us much money.


I don't mind getting rid of starters, but Pats could have shown him some respect here.

 

[RIpats88]

well, the moves they make in the coming days will give us a bigger picture...I just CANT imagine them leaving brady hanging after what they did to him in 2006. I have to feel they will go out and get him a shiny new toy..get him an outside receiver

and spend ALOT of their cap-space on defense

 

[Brady2Moss]

It's not just the defense. The offense has **** the bed multiple times in the playoffs losing with the scores of 14(2), 21, 17, and 13. Hope BB has something up his sleeve. Get Amendola and maybe bring DHB at the vet minimum? Unless he's gonna try to pull off a trade.

I've noted in multiple threads that the offense ****s itself royally in the playoffs and my personal belief is that it is because of a lack of play makers on the outside and overcrowding of the middle of the field. Also a lack of ability to gain yards in chunks results in more opportunities for turnovers and failed conversions.

Bill better have something if we have Lloyd + some rookie this has 2006 or worse written all over it.

 

[PatriotsInGA]

Get average WRs and re-sign Edelman. We have two of the top 5 TEs in the game. Use most of the money to upgrade the secondary.

 

[Brady2Moss]

That's bull, we could have kept Welker and still evolved into this new offense, even if he wasn't the focal point. He wasn't going to cost us much money.


I don't mind getting rid of starters, but Pats could have shown him some respect here.

Personally I think the team noted that if Welker is there Brady is always going to throw to him and he'll be open in the regular season, but when it comes playoff time and teams shut Welker down Brady isn't comfortable enough to go to someone else and it results in crappy performances. It may not be that they didn't want Welker, it might be that they knew the offense could truly never change if he was here.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

A little fun to lighten the mood!

 

[groganbootleg]

Dave Dameshek ‏@Dameshek Caveat emptor: players who leave the Patriots & Steelers VERY rarely perform at the same level with new teams.

I think this is a very good point. Welker just came off of some very serious injuries and is probably on his last year or so.

 

[Deus Irae]

A guy who's been insulting Welker wants people to calm down about Welker getting screwed by the team. There's a shock.

 

[Brady2Moss]

Dave Dameshek ‏@Dameshek Caveat emptor: players who leave the Patriots & Steelers VERY rarely perform at the same level with new teams.

I think this is a very good point. Welker just came off of some very serious injuries and is probably on his last year or so.

He'll get his 1000 yards in the regular season and 100 catches. I think this is about getting better in the playoffs, even if it means less blow outs in the regular season.

 

[Mac&Barmore FTW]

I think people are getting a bit crazy here over the loss of Welker. I didn't want him back for huge dollars, but apparently we could have had him for a real steal. Bill didn't want to do it he clearly has other plans.

Welker did a good job here, but consistently our offense was shut down in the playoffs at some point during his tenure. Not all his fault, but the solution appears not to involve him. Bedard reported that the Patriots grinded over the Ravens tape to see what they had to do to be better. And just maybe they realized it was to move to a different type of offense.

Either way they have cap space. They are going to spend to the cap and have a damn good team. I personally hope they use it on impact players instead of old guys, but either way they'll have a good team.

Offense will be fine there is no way in hell that Welker makes Brady, and he will find a way to put up 400-500 points. It's on Bill now to get a defense that can't get some freaking stops.

Thank you man! In the passed hour or so, this has been the most intense and hostile forum lol. A lot of fights. Seriously guys, I know Welker's gone
and that sucks, but chill.

 

[Brady2Moss]

A guy who's been insulting Welker wants people to calm down about Welker getting screwed by the team. There's a shock.

I didn't insult him I said I don't want him for more than 7-8 million a year and that it was a failure by the Patriots to not take him back for 6. But to say the team is doomed is CRAP, especially in light of all the maniacs on here touting in bill we trust. If you believe that then trust him, he's not a moron.

 

[voluntarysaftey]

If Lloyd gets cut, I'll start panicking.
If they can get another wideout of Lloyd's reputation for similar money (which unfortunately is also similar to Welker money), then I'll be happy -- having a good WR on the left and right side, and Gronk/Hern in the middle with Ridley/Vareen out of the back could be a better setup than using a slot receiver.
If they sign a slot receiver for close to welker money, I'll be pissed

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Trying to be as optimistic about this as I can...

From a value standpoint, this is a horrible move. But I guess it's clear we want a different direction with the offense and [hopefully] planning to spend more resources on defense. As pissed off as I am right now, I am intrigued to see what this offense looks like without Welker. One thing to keep in mind is that ever since 2007, offensively we could not have played worse in the biggest games of that respective year. Not saying any of that is Welker's fault, but maybe it's a sign we need to start investing elsewhere. We'll see how it works out.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Get average WRs and re-sign Edelman. We have two of the top 5 TEs in the game. Use most of the money to upgrade the secondary.

Two of the top 5 TE's who can't stay on the field and one, Aaron Hernandez, who has the "drops" every bit as much as Wes Welker.
The Patriots struggles on O during the playoffs was not because of Wes Welker.

 

[Brady2Moss]

Trying to be as optimistic about this as I can...

From a value standpoint, this is a horrible move. But I guess it's clear we want a different direction with the offense and [hopefully] planning to spend more resources on defense. As pissed off as I am right now, I am intrigued to see what this offense looks like without Welker. One thing to keep in mind is that ever since 2007, offensively we could not have played worse in the biggest games of that respective year. Not saying any of that is Welker's fault, but maybe it's a sign we need to start investing elsewhere. We'll see how it works out.

Sometimes you need to change things to get better, even if it hurts in the short term (regular season points per game). Ask the 2010, 2011, 2012 Patriots if they wouldn't have traded a few points for an extra touchdown in the last game of those seasons.

 

[mgteich]

Will Slater be our top receiver by weekend?

As Rodak said, this seems a lot like 2006. At least, we can start facing the issue in March instead of July, as we did then.

You all do remember Caldwell and Gabriel.

Yes, we can weak with below average receivers, but there is no reason to do so. This is a passing league.

 

[serifyn]

The Patriots just let the most productive WR in the history of their franchise walk for what amounts to pocket change.

I know the old adage is 'In Bill we Trust' but today i believe it is more accurate to ask 'Is Bill Drunk?'.

 

[stealthdog]

I'm amazed that $6M/year (and only 2 years) is the market value for Welker. Teams could have contacted his agent for what....4 days now? That was the best he was going to get. And people last year were calling the Patriots cheap for offering him $8M/year. Chew on this - Welker just took a 40% paycut from what he made last year.

The Patriots easily could have matched, or even exceeded, this deal. For some reason, they didn't want to - its pretty clear that the Patriots went into the offseason with the expectation that Welker wouldn't be with the team anymore.