Breer reports Welker signs tender

[mayoclinic]

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

The Pats will have paid Welker almost $27M for 6 seasons. Welker has been a relative bargain, but he won't be collecting food stamps anytime soon, either.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Hold on one at a time ok, I still haven't recovered from the euphoria post-Tavon Wilson signing to handle another. Thankfully it's just the tender for now

 

[Belichicknumber1]

On a side note it took him 4 pens to sign his tender. The pressure of the signing must of got to him cause he dropped the other 3. Go Get Em Wes!!!! :rocker: :rocker: :rocker: :rocker:

 

[Ron Sellers]

"Breer reports Welker signs tender"


Did Albert somehow manage to spin this to being a negative for the Patriots?

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Sign him to an extension now.

It would send a message that such a show of good faith by a player, eager to give up some leverage and not miss a day of camp, is appreciated. Moreover, commitment like that is rewarded.

4 years/33 million.

Sign the beast.

 

[Uncle Rico]

"Breer reports Welker signs tender"


Did Albert somehow manage to spin this to being a negative for the Patriots?

Too funny! That was actually my first thought when I saw the thread.

Yesterday he had this gem:
"Will be interesting to see the Wes Welker thing play out. History shows players almost always have to go militant to get paid in NE."

I even started a post saying "guess what crap Breer tweeted" but then my boss came by. My entry was going to be "Rat Bastard Belichick screws receiver with $9M insult. I spoke to another GM and he said, 'The Patriots. ... Pffft.' Couldn't agree more. "

But, to be fair (for some reason), Breer did point out on Twitter that Bedard at the Globe reported the tender-signing first.

 

[condon84]

I hope Welker's good faith in signing the tender gets rewarded. He could have really drag this on and made it messy.

 

[Reckedtrek]

The Pats should trade Welker for a 7th round pick in 2015. Who needs him? We have Julian Edelman!


</sarcasm>

I'm glad Wes signed his tender. Great news!

 

[patfanken]

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.

No what would be silly is to pay people for past performance going forward, when its highly unlikely for them to keep up the current production. In other words paying more and getting less. This is NOT the blueprint for continuing success. The league is littered with teams that have done this and were soon drafting in the top 10 trying to correct that mistake.

Not to take anything away from Welker's accomplishments over the past 5 season. The Pats certainly got their money's worth, and somehow people seem to resent it. Besides its hard to throw a pity party for a guy who will have made close to $30MM by the end of this season.

Welker's salary prospect have NOTHING to do with what other teams are throwing at 26-28 year old receivers in FA. He's 31, small of stature, and taken quite a beating over the past 5 years. It is unreasonable to think that the kind of player he is now, will be the kind of player we will see in 3 years. History tells us, when players of his size lose it, they lose it fast.

If this was only a matter of paying him for past performance, then fine, give him what he wants. (probably around $10MM/yr) However this is ALL about paying him fairly for what he's likely to produce over the next 3 or 4 years, which would be closer to $6-8MM/yr. That's the impasse. Welker wants to be paid for past production, The Pats want to pay him based on what they think will be the future results.

As it is, Welker's numbers are likely to be down, even if there is absolutely no diminishment of his skills. Brady will have other targets to go to. and a bigger emphasis on the running game, all will eat into Welker's numbers. I can see the Pats offense have another great year, with Welker having "only" 90 odd catches

What should the Pats do? Offer him a deal in the range of 3 years for $22MM with 14 guaranteed. If he balks on that, then let him play for his "measly" $9.3MM this season and move on. Better a year too early than a year too late.

 

[Deus Irae]

No what would be silly is to pay people for past performance going forward, when its highly unlikely for them to keep up the current production. In other words paying more and getting less. This is NOT the blueprint for continuing success. The league is littered with teams that have done this and were soon drafting in the top 10 trying to correct that mistake.

For seemingly about the billionth time:

Every contract signed in professional sports is, in part, payment for past performance, because past performance is part of what's used to determine value moving forward. This is even true of players who've not played in the leagues themselves.

Not to take anything away from Welker's accomplishments over the past 5 season. The Pats certainly got their money's worth, and somehow people seem to resent it. Besides its hard to throw a pity party for a guy who will have made close to $30MM by the end of this season.

The pity party thing is a stupid argument in a business with comparative contracts, and you know that, Ken.

Welker's salary prospect have NOTHING to do with what other teams are throwing at 26-28 year old receivers in FA. He's 31, small of stature, and taken quite a beating over the past 5 years. It is unreasonable to think that the kind of player he is now, will be the kind of player we will see in 3 years. History tells us, when players of his size lose it, they lose it fast.

Then again, you know this isn't true either, yet you posted it. Of course those other deals have potential impact upon Welker's deal.

If this was only a matter of paying him for past performance, then fine, give him what he wants. (probably around $10MM/yr) However this is ALL about paying him fairly for what he's likely to produce over the next 3 or 4 years, which would be closer to $6-8MM/yr. That's the impasse. Welker wants to be paid for past production, The Pats want to pay him based on what they think will be the future results.

Nonsense. If you were truly looking to be "fair" about future production from the team's perspective, you'd stack a contract with big money in years one and two, most of it guaranteed, and then start a sliding scale with lower up front/guaranteed money and higher value incentive clauses after that.

As it is, Welker's numbers are likely to be down, even if there is absolutely no diminishment of his skills. Brady will have other targets to go to. and a bigger emphasis on the running game, all will eat into Welker's numbers. I can see the Pats offense have another great year, with Welker having "only" 90 odd catches

In 2007, while new to the team and with yet another "other targets to go to...." season, Welker had 112 catches.

What should the Pats do? Offer him a deal in the range of 3 years for $22MM with 14 guaranteed. If he balks on that, then let him play for his "measly" $9.3MM this season and move on. Better a year too early than a year too late.

That would be a stupid offer from the Patriots. I don't know what got into you with this post of yours, but it's one of the most poorly thought out you've ever made. If they offered him 2/16 fully guaranteed already, as reported, why on Earth would you consider your offer to be anything but crazy and offensive?

 

[Urgent]

This is often a sign that the player believes that they are close to a deal.
Sign the franchise tag as a formality, get into camp.
Trust that a long-term deal will come.

If the sides are far apart, the player (and agent) have a strong incentive not to sign the deal.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

No what would be silly is to pay people for past performance going forward, when its highly unlikely for them to keep up the current production. In other words paying more and getting less. This is NOT the blueprint for continuing success. The league is littered with teams that have done this and were soon drafting in the top 10 trying to correct that mistake.

Not to take anything away from Welker's accomplishments over the past 5 season. The Pats certainly got their money's worth, and somehow people seem to resent it. Besides its hard to throw a pity party for a guy who will have made close to $30MM by the end of this season.

Welker's salary prospect have NOTHING to do with what other teams are throwing at 26-28 year old receivers in FA. He's 31, small of stature, and taken quite a beating over the past 5 years. It is unreasonable to think that the kind of player he is now, will be the kind of player we will see in 3 years. History tells us, when players of his size lose it, they lose it fast.

If this was only a matter of paying him for past performance, then fine, give him what he wants. (probably around $10MM/yr) However this is ALL about paying him fairly for what he's likely to produce over the next 3 or 4 years, which would be closer to $6-8MM/yr. That's the impasse. Welker wants to be paid for past production, The Pats want to pay him based on what they think will be the future results.

As it is, Welker's numbers are likely to be down, even if there is absolutely no diminishment of his skills. Brady will have other targets to go to. and a bigger emphasis on the running game, all will eat into Welker's numbers. I can see the Pats offense have another great year, with Welker having "only" 90 odd catches

What should the Pats do? Offer him a deal in the range of 3 years for $22MM with 14 guaranteed. If he balks on that, then let him play for his "measly" $9.3MM this season and move on. Better a year too early than a year too late.

Yeah, that's the deal. The Oracle has spoken as he does to the sheep at JETS Insider. Offer him a deal that's one year longer with $2M less in guaranteed money. You're really something, ken... You have no idea what Welker is looking for - none of us do. What we do know is what they offered him because both sides have confirmed that was the offer they made him last September before he put up another league leading season.

Stature be damned, the guy is as if not more durable than any player we've ever had on the roster and he rebounds from career threatening injury on the wrong side of 30 in a league with his HOF QB. He's been the most consistent playmaker on this team not named Brady for the last 4 years. And the FO has stated their goal in tagging him was to buy time to work out a (get ready for this) LONG TERM DEAL so he finishes his career as a Patriot. And the best you can offer in the way of commentary is short guys fade quick and new guys always fit in like clockwork here and surely Bill is planning to feature more of the running game, why else would be add half a dozen FA WR's to the roster... All of whom happen to be on the wrong side of 30 and/or injury prone and/or former problem children and none of whom has ever produced statistically at his level let alone consistently.

People have been taking away from Welker's performance since the day he got here. Paid too much in draft and dollars for a friggin slot receiver. NEM predicted he'd be cut once Stallworth and Moss were signed. Then Moss was credited with somehow creating Welker's numbers. Until they got rid of Moss. And of course there was Brady, except when there wasn't. Better get rid of Wes a year before folks figure out he's actually facilitated a lot of other people's stats here...

I' a lot more concerned about paying Mankins $8.5M for 6 years at 28 than I am about paying Welker $8M for another 4 at 31.

They really need to step up and do the right thing for a guy who has done just that since the day he walked in the door. The kids will be watching. Would be unfortunate if the lesson they learn is get yours at full price or hold out before your rookie deal expires...because otherwise it's all about the leverage and the leverage is all managements.

 

[Rob0729]

For seemingly about the billionth time:

Every contract signed in professional sports is, in part, payment for past performance, because past performance is part of what's used to determine value moving forward. This is even true of players who've not played in the leagues themselves.

It is kinda semantics here. Teams use past performance to determine what they expect future performance to be in giving out a contract, but there are other factors in determining future performance such as age, wear and tear, and where the team is heading. When people talk about rewarding a player for past performance, it is the teams who give a player near the end of his career a big deal as a reward for good service over the years and disregard other factors like age which would say logically that the player isn't worth that type of money. .

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Welker Signs Tender

I checked and double checked, so if there's already a thread, please merge, but I couldn't find one.

Anti-climactic, perhaps, after his "9.5 million reasons" statement yesterday, but now it's a done deal.

Wes Welker of New England Patriots signs $9.5M franchise tender - ESPN Boston

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Re: Welker Signs Tender

I checked, so if there's already a thread, please merge, but I couldn't find one.

Anti-climactic, perhaps, after his "9.5 million reasons" statement yesterday, but now it's a done deal.

Wes Welker of New England Patriots signs $9.5M franchise tender - ESPN Boston

My bad. I missed the other thread. Please merge.

 

[Fencer]

But, to be fair (for some reason), Breer did point out on Twitter that Bedard at the Globe reported the tender-signing first.

The various reporters seem to have a great Twitter relationship with each other.

Happens in my field too. I get along quite well on Twitter even with guys I compete with and look down on.

 

[ausbacker]

The beast signed.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I'm not gay, but I love Wes Welker.

 

[rookBoston]

He's 31, small of stature, and taken quite a beating over the past 5 years. It is unreasonable to think that the kind of player he is now, will be the kind of player we will see in 3 years. History tells us, when players of his size lose it, they lose it fast.

Don't give me the small stature crap. Welker is no less durable than Gronkowski, and very likely to be among the top 2 or 3 most productive WRs in the NFL again, over the next three years.

Brandon Marshall is signed to $9.1/year + $200k workout bonus in 2013 and 2014. Welker is a better player and as close to a sure thing as we'll find at WR. He should command something in that neighborhood.

 

[WinstonSmith]

How does age impact WR production? (Part II) | The Fantasy Shrink – Free Fantasy Football Expert Analysis and Opinion by John Paulsen

Next, we see steady growth through age 25 at which point the average receiver’s production essentially plateaus until age 29. Starting with age 30, we can expect a slow but steady (9-12%) drop for the next three years. It seems like we can expect peak performance through age 29 and then his production is likely to fall off at a 10% clip for every year beyond that.

I agree with Ken that the Pats should base contracts on expected future production that factors in age related performance declines and increased injury risks.

That being said I would be disapointed if they can't reach an agreement - it would be nice to see the little guy retire a Patriot.