Breer reports Welker signs tender

Just saw the ticker on ESPN

Rapsheet and Bedard now reporting it aswell!


Nice one

Sign and trade coming?



Just joking.

That's great. As I understand it, that shows a commitment to the off-season programs, as the team can now actually fine him if he doesn't show up for minicamp.

Welker confirms.

"I signed my tender today. I love the game and I love my teammates! Hopefully doing the right thing gets the right results. #leapoffaith"

Cool. Go have another career year, Wes. They won't deny you then!!

Excellent. He can participate in all the camp activities over the summer while negotiations continue. I bet they reach a long-term deal when the dust settles with everybody else.

With the cap stuck on approximately $120M and so many veterans in camp, the 2012-13 salary cap year is very hard to project until cutdowns in late August. They can work out the fundamentals with Welker and then put the final dollar figures in place in August to keep him and Brady together for two to three years, I'd guess.

Great news! Hopefully they can reach an agreement on a long-term contract sooner than later. Welker is the ultimate (non-Brady) Patriot, I hope he finishes his career here.

Marqui said:

Sign and trade coming?

Just joking.

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You're over-analyzing things.

Would rather a deal be done than just an expected Tender signing,but it is what it is.

PATRIOTSFANINPA said:

Would rather a deal be done than just an expected Tender signing,but it is what it is.

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I'm good with the tag to be honest. I love Welker but he'll be 32 this time next year and we have a lot of young players who need to be re-signed. I'm not sure I want to put $8M or so a year for, say, three more years into Welker. As awful as it is to say I might let him play this out and put the future money into the youngsters (Chung, Gronk, Hernandez, etc).

I think he's going to play out the season, put up 100+/1000+, and get a 3/$19 contract in the offseason.

Awesome news. Prepare for a record setting 2012 offensive campaign Wes!!
I predict that we have 2x 1k receivers for the first time in a loooong time. Welker & Lloyd. Has that ever happened in Pats history?

Also when gronk and welker both had 1k receiving yards, was that the first time a Pats receiver and TE had combined for that milestone in yardage?

andrewgarrr said:

I think he's going to play out the season, put up 100+/1000+, and get a 3/$19 contract in the offseason.

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I think you are dreaming if you think Welker will take 6m per year. 3/27 might get it done.

I love Welker, and he seems to have a really good relationship with Brady, off the field as well as on. I think he's got 3 or 4 years left of pro bowl caliber play, so a new contract that reflects that would be ideal. I'd peg his value at somewhere around 8-10 million a year, so signing the tag seems like a good decision.

Totally out there, wild hypothetical: what if Welker goes through the year without an extension, and Lloyd outplays him? How does that affect contract negotiations given the philosophy of the team?

HomerSchooled said:

I'd peg his value at somewhere between 8-10 million a year

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I wouldn't.

Especially when it's getting close to Gronk & Hernandez needing extensions and if it came to Welker or the 2 TE's....I'll take the TE's every time.

Totally out there, wild hypothetical: what if Welker goes through the year without an extension, and Lloyd outplays him? How does that affect contract negotiations given the philosophy of the team?

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I don't think Lloyd would effect it much, but Gaffney and one of Ebert/Edelman might though.

Hell, seems like a no-brainer for me. He's now set for life.

I don't think the per year is the sticking point.

I think the team wants a 3 year and Wes wants 4 years.

HomerSchooled said:

I love Welker, and he seems to have a really good relationship with Brady, off the field as well as on.

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Yeah, well, $9.5 million also means he'll have a really good relationship with his fiancee Anna Burns, too. Welker is living the dream.

Big-T said:

I wouldn't.

Especially when it's getting close to Gronk & Hernandez needing extensions and if it came to Welker or the 2 TE's....I'll take the TE's every time.

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Silly notion, easily shown to be so by simply looking at the past 5 years. Welker is clearly worth that level of money, if not more, in a comparative pay league such as the NFL. Why people are ignoring that is an interesting case study in how too many fans can't be bothered to analyze without throwing in obviously false biases.

Big-T said:

I wouldn't.

Especially when it's getting close to Gronk & Hernandez needing extensions and if it came to Welker or the 2 TE's....I'll take the TE's every time.

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I agree I'd rather have the TEs than Welker, but nothing says we can't have all of them. We've got lots of space now, and tons of reports say the cap will jump up a fair bit in 2014, which is when the TEs' contracts expire. 8-10 million for a guy with Welker's production would actually be pretty reasonable considering the top guys are making 15+. 8-10 million is a Pierre Garcon or Desean Jackson kind of range.

Tons of WRs play well into their mid-30s. Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter, Terrell Owens, Isaac Bruce, Derrick Mason and lots of others were still having great seasons at 34 and 35. Jerry Rice made a pro bowl (and deserved it) at 40. Admittedly, that dude was pretty special.