Wes Welker at 8 million per year for 5 years?

[PatsFanStnfrd]

Don't believe Welker will go for a fluff contract. The Pats are likely to offer a Randy Moss type 3 year $27 million dollar contract w/ $22 million guaranteed and $16 million upfront bonus.

The cap hit will mirror the average annual pay.

 

[Jimke]

The Patriots have until Saturday to re-sign their players before other teams can start talking to them. I hope they're not concentrating mostly on the pro days and are ignoring the negotiating. Once their players start getting offers from other teams, anything goes.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The Patriots have until Saturday to re-sign their players before other teams can start talking to them. I hope they're not concentrating mostly on the pro days and are ignoring the negotiating. Once their players start getting offers from other teams, anything goes.

Luckily, there are some people in the organization who have little to do with the actual scouting process (e.g., the Krafts) who can work on negotiations.

 

[patfanken]

No, it's not completely absurd. What is absurd is people like yourself ignoring the fact that Welker could get 10-12Mil/yr for 3-4 years on the open market with ease. You also forget how dynamic a player Welker is. Yes, he is one piece of the puzzle, but a very valuable piece. And it allows the Pats to focus on other areas going into free agency and the draft.

Of course Ivan likes this, DB. But I strongly disagree that Welker can get that 10-12MM/yr number. Not for a slot receiver. Why do you think a guy like Victor Cruz who is a hell of a lot more dynamic a receiver than Wes Welker is having trouble getting a deal done.

Teams simply are not willing to pay the same kind of money to slot guys that they are willing to pay less prolific but much more dynamic and impactful outside receivers. Why do you think that people would go nuts if the Pats signed Mike Wallace, even though he was LESS productive last year, than the much maligned Brandon Lloyd, who everyone seems to want out of town.

Forget about the age and wear and tear factors. Part of the issue between the Pats and Welker are a matter of position. More like the conflict between the TE number and the WR one, or the CB number and the S one. There is a huge gap between those numbers. The agents want it to go away, the teams want to keep them. Its the same between a "slot receiver" and the outside receiver, but the lines are even more blurred because there isn't really a specific designation for the slot position.

THAT's the reason why its not likely that Welker is going to get an 8 figure annual contract. Not impossible I guess, but not likely imho. If its true that both sides are talking then I'm guessing that the number is a lot closer to $8MM/yr Though I wouldn't be surprised if the deal is longer than 3 years simply as a cap control mechanism

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

No way Welker signs a contract with only an 8 mil. bonus. He
will get the 5 year/ 40 mil. 20 mil. guaranteed from the Patriots or
from another team two hours after free agency begins.

You don't need to give him a massive signing bonus in order to guarantee him $20 million.

The more years he asks for, the lower the signing bonus has to be. That's just the way it works. The unallocated signing bonus becomes dead money if you cut him. If he takes 3 or 4 years, he can take a big signing bonus. If he wants five, he has to drop the bonus and get other guarantees to make up the $20 million. The money spends the same, so it really only matters whether or not it's guaranteed. If he absolutely must have like $16 million today, then the Patriots can't give him 5 years. I don't think anybody can. Having the potential of $8 million of dead cap money at the end of 2016 when a slot receiver is 34 years old would be a bad move.

If you want to see what a five year, $40 mllion, $20 million guarantee contract looks like for a wide receiver, check out Pierre Garcon's contract. That's what it looks like and he's 26. The Redskins took a smaller cap hit in year 1 than I would think the Patriots should with $25 million under the cap at present. But that's your model.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Welker to end his career in NE as well as brady...can't wait until they come back one day together opening day sometime in the future when kraft salutes them :rocker: