- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
- Messages
- 19,929
- Reaction score
- 3
Please remember that on the morning of the deadline to sign a long-term deal, Wes Welker is the #1 most expensive player on the roster in 2012. His $9.523 million dollar contract is the biggest cap hit on the 90 man roster heading into camp, more than $1.2 million greater than Tom Brady's this year.
No tears should be shed for Mr. Welker.
The franchise tag cuts both ways. Every dollar is guaranteed and is a huge risk to the team. The player has time-limited employment but is being compensated for the work he does at the highest level.
I agree with many who feel a three-year deal at $8M to $9M annually with a majority of that guaranteed should be on the table (maybe it is), but I have no sympathy for Mr. Welker and his agent if they play the disrespected or unappreciated card.
I wish somebody would un-appreciate me for $9,523,120 this year.
And if they did a 3-4 year deal they could lower that cap hit, that's their choice, not his. FWIW Brady is the most expensive player on the roster, scheduled to take up $17M against the cap until they opted to convert $10M of his 2012 salary and bonus to signing bonus and pay it out up front while enabling them to spread the hits across the remaining 2 years of his contract which will now have $22M cap hits going forward in exchange for an artificially low cap hit this season. They could give Welker a 4 year $32M deal with $20M guaranteed and take a cap hit as low as $6M if they wanted to this season. The cap is all about contract structure and that is a team decision.
If you agree he's worth 3 years at that kind of money, then you're being somewhat diningenuous to claim not offering anything that approaches that isn't disrespectful or unappreciative.
I wish someone would direspect me to the tune of $9.5M too, but I also realize it would be impossible to because I possess no talent remotely worth it. Wes does.