Clearly the Pats have their number and Wes has his. I don't see why him testing the FA market as some kind of betrayal. Its probably makes good sense for both sides to see what the market REALLY is out there, and then sit back down and work out a deal.
I disagree with this. The only reason for Wes to go to free agency is to maximize dollars. The Patriots are not the type that care what other teams are willing to pay him, as you said, they have their number. The most disconcerting thing about this report is the sense that the plan is FA. That isn't a good sign. It basically means that they are either really far apart, which is contrary to the other day's report, or that Wes is really just interested in moving on.