Wes was a bargain for us for so many years, and amazingly productive. I have a hard time being upset with him for trying to maximize his value as a free agent. But it does diminish my opinion of him as a fan.
Tedy Bruschi, Matt Light, Troy Brown and Kevin Faulk are the ones I can think of who put their sunset years into Belichick's hands and played for whatever contract he was going to offer them. And they retired as Patriots. Light, I thought, had a few years left in the tank, but Solder had come onto the roster the year before and was ready to start. But rather than find another team, he just retired.
Then there's the camp with Welker, Mankins, Wilfork, Milloy, Vinatieri, Branch...who were committed to maximizing their market value. In different ways, Belichick got rid of each of them, some rather inauspiciously. Milloy and Mankins left suddenly and left a gap on the roster, Branch was traded for a huge haul (eventually returned off the trash heap), Vinatieri and Wilfork walked after playing under the tag and BB had a succession plan in place for them.
I wonder if all of them didn't regret leaving. Milloy missed a few SB teams he could have been a core member of. Mankins is banished to the backwaters of the NFL. Branch was a flop in Seattle and seriously missed having Brady as his QB. Wilfork has to move his family to Texas for a final few years with a mediocre, struggling franchise and facing his own diminishing skills.
Vinatieri is the only one that went on and did well for himself. Made a new home in Indy and even won a SB. Of course, we drafted Gostkowski and he turned out pretty good too. But Adam was a cult figure here, and the most famous clutch kicker in NFL history for his time in Foxboro. If nothing else, I think he walked away from a lot of endorsement money in NE that he probably couldn't get in Indy.
IIRC Ty Law has said that maybe he overplayed his hand at the end, and regrets not staying on with the Pats. It takes a lot of perspective and maturity to look back and admit you made a mistake in leaving the franchise that was Home for you.