Wes Welker bolts Patriots for Broncos - Sports - The Boston Globe
The Patriots could have had Welker for the same deal through 2014 — if not a little less — last offseason. But they didn’t do the deal last July, and they expected Welker to give them that discount in any event. But in Welker’s mind, he had to risk his career playing on that one-year tag. Why should he give the team a discount on that now?
In the end, the Patriots expected Welker to pay for their mistake of last offseason, with the help of a down market for free agent receivers. He declined to do that.
But Welker needed to find another team. As of Wednesday morning, there was no market for him; the Patriots appeared to have gauged the market perfectly. The Broncos previously expressed no interest in Welker. Members of their front office didn’t think Welker would be a good fit; they wanted to get better at the tight end position instead.
Perhaps that was a smokescreen, because Broncos sources said many in the front office thought Welker would be a perfect fit — and signing him could weaken a fellow AFC contender at the same time. Team president John Elway might have played possum so the Patriots would think there were no competitors for Welker.
Whether it was a planned deception or not, the Broncos were in perfect position to land Welker if he felt scorned by the Patriots. He did, and both sides quickly pushed toward a deal.
The Patriots made one last push to retain Welker, as Kraft talked to the receiver personally. The Patriots did not make a counter-offer, so the decision for Welker was easy. He was off to play with two very good outside threats in Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker — something he never had in New England — and another Hall of Fame-bound quarterback in Manning.
not sure about changing the offense. Josh's ex ram receiver's havent exactly lit up the offense yet so that remains to be seen.With Welker gone, Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can move forward with an offense that we saw glimpses of early last season — one they feel will make them tougher to defend, especially in the playoffs.
With Welker, Gronkowski, and Hernandez, the Patriots had too many weapons that worked best in the middle of the field.
Removing Welker should leave the middle to the tight ends, with Hernandez taking most of Welker’s snaps inside the numbers. They could also use the other tight ends, Jake Ballard and Michael Hoomanwanui, more with Gronkowski to free up Hernandez as a receiver.
Amendola, who played for McDaniels in St. Louis, and a re-signed Edelman would be outside the numbers, running a variety of short passes, bubble screens, and crossing routes.
The real key to taking the offense to the next level is finding a dynamic boundary receiver with similar traits to Randy Moss. Barring a trade for a Larry Fitzgerald type, the Patriots will have to find that player in the draft.
They have a terrible track record, but it’s time for them to deliver their first consistent receiver in the draft since 2002 (Deion Branch, David Givens). DeAndre Hopkins (Clemson), Justin Hunter (Tennessee), Keenan Allen (Cal), Terrance Williams (Baylor), and Markus Wheaton (Oregon State) are among those who have that type of potential.
The Patriots, through an unnecessarily messy endgame, have made their decision to move on from Welker, and they have a plan that makes the team better. Now it’s up to them to execute it.
