Is anyone else getting a bit nervous??

I'm just worried that at this rate, all the FAs good enough to win a roster spot on a solid roster will be gone by Friday-- and we won't even be able to reach the minimum cap spending #.

Patriotic Fervor said:

2 years at $10 mill was a fair contract for Welker. That was the Patriots' price. Not 2 at @12, not 2 @ 11, but 2 @ 10. They obviously have a plan they want to follow; that's why they said no.

Personally, I think Cruz is on the radar. They also want to get younger and faster. BB is determined, I'm sure, to avoid the mistake he made at Cleveland with regard to holding on to vets a year too long, rather than letting them go a year too late.

He knows what he's doing, and he's playing the odds like a seasoned gambler.

The last word on this saga is far from being written, so my only comment would be, don't have a cow!

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What does it even mean to be a "seasoned gambler"? A gambling addict? This is another case of the pats playing unnecessary hardball with a proven rock-solid player, especially one who has been the fallback guy while we have acquired such esteemed talent like galloway, holt, ochocinco, brandon tate, branch, etc. etc. On top of losing welker, now we made the broncos seriously scary.

Observer said:

What does it even mean to be a "seasoned gambler"? A gambling addict? This is another case of the pats playing unnecessary hardball with a proven rock-solid player, especially one who has been the fallback guy while we have acquired such esteemed talent like galloway, holt, ochocinco, brandon tate, branch, etc. etc. On top of losing welker, now we made the broncos seriously scary.

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I think i would be more scared of Brady not having any weapons than the Broncos being "seriously scary". The Broncos will be regular season juggernauts and will be SuperBowl favourites until Peyton plays his usual game of catch with opposing DBs in the Divisional Playoffs.

On Welker, the offer of $10m over 2yrs was a low ball and the fact that they couldn't/wouldn't increase the offer by a $1m a year, hell I'd say if they increased the offer by $500,000 a year Welker would have accepted...

I think it's pretty obvious, the Pats were not outbid...the Pats didn't want Welker at all!!


I see a massive revamp of the Pats passing game coming.

Hazy said:

On Welker, the offer of $10m over 2yrs was a low ball and the fact that they couldn't/wouldn't increase the offer by a $1m a year, hell I'd say if they increased the offer by $500,000 a year Welker would have accepted...

I think it's pretty obvious, the Pats were not outbid...the Pats didn't want Welker at all!!


I see a massive revamp of the Pats passing game coming.

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Agreed. They didn't get outbid by the Broncos - the Broncos overbid for him and the Pats were not going there. If they truly wanted him and felt that his presence on the field would be the difference they would have signed him before FA. I, for one, will miss WW, and I wish him no luck with Pay-me-a-ton.

I'm nervous because the Pats had the 8th most cap space of all the teams, yet we are way worse off today then we were Monday. The Welker situation in my opinion is a disgrace. You mean to tell me the Pats couldn't offer 20 mill over 4 seasons to have Welker end his career as a Patriot. Could have been 6-6-4-4 over those 4 seasons. Would that had put the team in cap hell ? Hate to tell you, Amendola wants $6 mill a season too, The Pats ain't gonna get him.

This whole Welker situation makes me lose faith in Kraft's believability. He said he wanted Welker to be a Patriot for life, a 4 year deal at low cost would have done it. The only way to help the situation is IF the Pats sign Jennings AND Amendola or even Amendola and Denario Alexander would help the receiver situation. The only problem is, there is NO guarantees that all the new receivers the Pats NEED, will be able to learn this offense. With Welker, we lost the receiver who knew the playbook better than any receiver.

I'm not sure what team you are describing.

NEboiTB said:

I think i would be more scared of Brady not having any weapons than the Broncos being "seriously scary". The Broncos will be regular season juggernauts and will be SuperBowl favourites until Peyton plays his usual game of catch with opposing DBs in the Divisional Playoffs.

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RIpats88 said:

I just get thoughts of 06 when they let branch go and left him with no targets..

I just CANT imagine they will leave brady hanging after the home-friendly deal he just signed...if they did the Krafts really have lost it

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No, the krafts have always been and always will be....KRAFTY!

The front office can only control what they have to offer, not what Welker will do with it. Whatever agreement they had with Brady, I'm sure included the words "Look, we're going to offer Welker the best of what he's worth - not a dime more. We'll be using your restructure to fund the deal, but by no mean can we guarantee WW is going to accept our number".

Personally I think the Pats AT THE VERY LEAST matched the Broncos' offer. But WW, being WW, decided to stick it to BB for the little penalty box he had put him early on last season as well as for failing to offer him a deal last year (instead of slapping the tag on him).

I appreciate everything WW has done for this franchise, and he's one tough son of a gun. But I certainly don't appreciate his little persona - that's for sure.

DefenseRules said:

THEY HAD BETTER GET HIM SOME GOOD NEW TOYS. I was driving home when I heard this. I'm willing to wait and see where things go from here, but I am not happy about this at all.

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All I know is, Amendola isn't as resilient with the injuries as Welker is. That is what makes me the most upset. Welker was a stud in the injury dept...

I am more nervous they haven't done a thing with the D yet...No Reed in a pats uniform at least

Some Pats fans never learn. Am I nervous ? Not i the least. BB almost always waits until the spending fools squander their money, and then buys after a week or so at more reasonble priced players. If Amendola has a cap of only 3 million, then they still have 22 million to spend.

It is becoming obvious that this year's FA period is a big Buyer's market; and BB is inspecting carefully and will soon begin to buy at good prices.

This may be one of those memorable FA years like back in 2001 or 2007.

i am not nervous at all they give the big contracts to the TE's for a reason they are the stars of this offense and maybe now brady will spred the ball around a lil more come playoff time and not just look for that big 3rd down to to come from Welker only...dont get me worng im not happy to see WW go but i have moved on and so has the pats front office

Haha, it seems like almost every year during the FA period we have the "getting nervous" thread.

Cruz was on the radar but I doubt the Pats splash big money for him now that they signed Amendola at 6 per. I think they address the rest of their WR needs in the draft.

They might sign some FA on the cheap and see if they stick, one guy I'd be curious about is Danario Alexander from the Chargers. If the Pats are serious about getting bigger and faster on the outside, that is one guy who could really pan out well as long as eh stays healthy.

Patriotic Fervor said:

2 years at $10 mill was a fair contract for Welker. That was the Patriots' price. Not 2 at @12, not 2 @ 11, but 2 @ 10. They obviously have a plan they want to follow; that's why they said no.

Personally, I think Cruz is on the radar. They also want to get younger and faster. BB is determined, I'm sure, to avoid the mistake he made at Cleveland with regard to holding on to vets a year too long, rather than letting them go a year too late.

He knows what he's doing, and he's playing the odds like a seasoned gambler.

The last word on this saga is far from being written, so my only comment would be, don't have a cow!

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AzPatsFan said:

Some Pats fans never learn. Am I nervous ? Not i the least. BB almost always waits until the spending fools squander their money, and then buys after a week or so at more reasonble priced players. If Amendola has a cap of only 3 million, then they still have 22 million to spend.

It is becoming obvious that this year's FA period is a big Buyer's market; and BB is inspecting carefully and will soon begin to buy at good prices.

This may be one of those memorable FA years like back in 2001 or 2007.

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No offense, but why do care how the Patriots spend their money. Most of the time the Patriots come away from the F/A market with guys like Joey Galloway and Joseph Addai that don't even make the team rather than true impact players.

A team that is a legit Superbowl contender like the Patriots are should be trying to add quality pieces rather than bottom feeding after all the impact players are long gone. I'd rather spend $25 million in cap space on 3 or 4 legit impact players than get 25 jags like they usually do.

This year the FA market is different and I'm pretty pissed that the FO isn't able to cope with it so far. Last year I understood why they didn't go for a WR because even a guy like Robinson got 5y 32m. But this off season the CB and the WR market is rather cheap and they so far they have dissappointed. Both needs at the Pats and they only got Amendola for a good deal. Maybe I'm too early but for example Nnamdi, Reed, Jennings, Talib, won't be on the market forever. Btw why didn't the Pats just keep Amendola and Welker? Branch proved to be a great addition in 2010 even though there already was Welker, Hernandez, Gronk. Brady did the Pats a favour in restructuring a deal to win and so far they haven't been using much of this cap space. I mean I'm not a big Cliff Avril fan but that a guy like him only got 2y 15m should tell you that this years FA is rather cheap.

The Seahawks, 49ers and Broncos have really strengthen themselves while the Pats FO so far wasn't even able to keep one of their own FA so far.

MUFC7 said:

Btw why didn't the Pats just keep Amendola and Welker?

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we dont need 2 shifty slot guys, we need a bruiser of a receiver. someone who can go up and take a ball between 2 DBs like boldin and megatron.

We need someone big tall and strong who can make things happen

No, have to be ahead of the curve and also have a great team for now. Thats what BB does better then anyone

I'm not nervous about 2013 free agency. But I do have a more general sense of unease. There is a fine line between confidence and hubris. I feel a bit like the Belichick model is possibly crossing the line a little. The last few years have shaken my confidence just a bit. Some questionable drafting, inability to fix the glaring weaknesses in the defense over a few years where the rest of the team was a contender, and now letting Welker go to the AFC's top contnders in a system he fits perfectly for a guy that's a lot like him. It just doesn't seem like the percentage play. My confidence about the team is always based on the fact that, for better or worse, it plays the percentages. I'm concerned.