Why Welker Trade Is A Solid Win For Pats FO

[Clonamery]

Welker wasn't going to stay anyway. Mueller is all about speed at WR and welkers 4.6 speed just wasn't doing it for the fins. Mueller just wanted compensation and he got it... honestly it's a good deal for all parties. Pats get a player they need with a reasonable contract, Fins get compensation for a player they never drafted and were trying to trade anyways...everyone is happy.

I agree with your points but not everyone here is happy though.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

Don't you kind of have to view the Welker deal as a long-term continuation of the Branch situation? We needed to replace Branch. On the surfact, Branch and Welker are similar receivers -- possession guys with similar numbers of catches last year. Branch is more of a TD threat and is faster. Welker gives you kick returns and intangibles.

I'm not saying that Welker is as good as Branch, although I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with Brady. But it's clear that getting the first round pick from Seattle is what gave us the luxury to deal the second round pick. So, in the final analysis, we get Welker instead of Branch, have $18 to $20 million over the next several years to spend on other stuff, and get a pick that's 36 spots higher.

And we get all that for a 7th round pick? Viewed that way, it looks like a steal.

 

[ClevTrev]

And if the news of the Fins signing Porter is accurate, the Pats played them like a violin. Knowing the Fins wouldn't want to tie up more time and money in matching to retain Welker, the Pats tossed in a meaningless 7th rounder to enable the Fins to focus on their big FA signing of this year. In the meantime, they were able to negotiate a cap friendly long-term deal with Welker that made player, team, and fans happy.

 

[vyrago]

I agree with your points but not >>everyone here is happy<< though.

I'm trying to remember the last time this happened. Superbowl XXXIX maybe?

 

[Clonamery]

I'm trying to remember the last time this happened. Superbowl XXXIX maybe?

Yes, but without a little friction there'd be no action.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

For a 7th rounder, we don't rock the boat (pissing off the league and other teams and generally getting bad PR), we get the player into camp early, and we have the freedom to negotiate with him as if he is a UFA instead of a RFA. That is getting quite a bit for a mere 7th round pick.

Bingo........

 

[Real World]

This trade is exceptional. The guy is 25 years old, and is very much like Troy Brown in his prime. People around here are going to love his style. Getting him, a 25 year old experienced player for the 60th pick is a steal. The 7th rounder is practice squad stuff. Anyhow, what's sad from a Fins perspective is that Miami only tendered him at $1.1 mill, and not the $1.3 mill which requires a 1st round pick as compensation. So for a couple hundred grand, they cost themsleves the player, and a 1st round pick.

Hey Miami,

 

[upstater1]

I'm glad you started a new thread, there wasn't anywhere to voice my opinion.

and i think there is an equally large consensus we'd rather have a welker than CJ part 2 where we keep saying this is where "insert 2nd rounder breaks out"

Look, the argument about 2nd round busts is a good one, but too often it neglects the fact that Anquan Boldin and a lot of other good players were second rounders as well.

Yeah, Bethel Johnson. I know...

But what about, from Bethel's year, Anquan Boldin, Kevin Curtis, Nate Burleson?

 

[biffman]

Does anyone know the actual contract numbers? I heard it was a 5yr, $18M contract. Can anyone confirm this? I think Givens got 5yrs, $24M, so Welker’s deal seems (especially with the cap going up) to be a decent contract.

On the other hand $3.6M a year is a lot more than Gaffney and Caldwell are making and, of course, neither cost a 2nd rounder. I guess I’m still on the fence about this deal.

 

[Real World]

Does anyone know the actual contract numbers? I heard it was a 5yr, $18M contract. Can anyone confirm this? I think Givens got 5yrs, $24M, so Welker’s deal seems (especially with the cap going up) to be a decent contract.

On the other hand $3.6M a year is a lot more than Gaffney and Caldwell are making and, of course, neither cost a 2nd rounder. I guess I’m still on the fence about this deal.

Yeah but none of them return kicks.

The team then signed Welker to a five-year contract that the league-owned NFL Network reported to be worth $18.1 million.

Also, for every Anquan Bolden you find in the second round, you'll find 25 Adrian Klemm's.

 

[biffman]

Yeah but none of them return kicks.

The team then signed Welker to a five-year contract that the league-owned NFL Network reported to be worth $18.1 million.

Also, for every Anquan Bolden you find in the second round, you'll find 25 Adrian Klemm's.

Yeah, I like Welker – he was definitely a thorn in our side. Like I said, I’m kind of on the fence still, considering the 2nd round pick. OTOH, I agree that the draft is a crapshoot. Just looking at some of our 2nd round picks – Bethel, Hill, et al – I can’t think of any since Branch that have panned out.

Stallworth was my first choice as a FA WR and it looks like we still have a chance to get him. If he is willing to sign a 1 or 2 yr deal, I’d love to see that happen. This offense would be pretty sick with Stallworth, Caldwell, Gaffney, Welker and Watson (and, if Thomas continues to improve, all the better).

The team has improved by A LOT in the past few days. That’s pretty exciting, especially considering the fact that we were one of the best teams in the league already. If we could somehow sign D. Edwards (I know that’s a pipe dream), I’d be in heaven.

 

[upstater1]

Yeah but none of them return kicks.

The team then signed Welker to a five-year contract that the league-owned NFL Network reported to be worth $18.1 million.

Also, for every Anquan Bolden you find in the second round, you'll find 25 Adrian Klemm's.

I don't think that's true about the busts.

I looked at one draft, Bethel's, and the three receivers taken after Bethel in that draft all panned out.

I'd say it's a 50/50 shot of boom to bust in the second round.

Last year's #28 pick in the 2nd round was Maurice Jones-Drew.

But since we're picking at 28, I'll look for the next round in past years

2002
61 Buffalo Ryan Denney DE Brigham Young
62 Pittsburgh Antwaan Randle El WR Indiana
63 Dallas Antonio Bryant WR Pittsburgh
64 St. Louis Travis Fisher CB Central Florida
65 New England Deion Branch WR Louisville

Round 3
Sel# Team Player Pos. School
66 Houston Fred Weary G Tennessee
67 Cincinnati Matt Schobel TE Texas Christian
68 Detroit Andre' Goodman CB South Carolina
69 San Francisco Saleem Rasheed ILB Alabama
70 Minnesota Willie Offord SS South Carolina
71 San Diego Ben Leber OLB Kansas State
72 Chicago Roosevelt Williams CB Tuskegee
73 Carolina Will Witherspoon MLB Georgia
74 Indianapolis Joseph Jefferson SS Western Kentucky
75 Dallas Derek Ross CB Ohio State
76 Cleveland Melvin Fowler C Maryland
77 Tennessee Rocky Calmus MLB Oklahoma
78 N.Y. Giants Jeff Hatch T Pennsylvania
79 Washington Rashad Bauman CB Oregon
80 Atlanta Will Overstreet OLB Tennessee
81 Arizona Josh McCown QB Sam Houston State
82 New Orleans James Allen OLB Oregon State
83 Houston Charles Hill NT Maryland
84 St. Louis Lamar Gordon FB North Dakota State
85 Seattle Kris Richard CB Southern California
86 Tampa Bay Marquise Walker WR Michigan
87 Washington Cliff Russell WR Utah
88 N.Y. Jets Chris Baker TE Michigan State
89 Jacksonville Akin Ayodele ILB Purdue
90 Miami Seth McKinney C Texas A&M
91 Philadelphia Brian Westbrook RB Villanova
92 Green Bay Marques Anderson FS UCLA
93 Chicago Terrence Metcalf G Mississippi
94 Pittsburgh Chris Hope SS Florida State

I count 17 of the 32 players who went after the Patriots position pick as solid pros. The other half were busts.

Look at 2003:

60 Tennessee Tyrone Calico WR Middle Tennessee
61 Philadelphia L.J. Smith TE Rutgers
62 San Diego Terrence Kiel SS Texas A&M
63 Oakland Teyo Johnson TE Stanford
64 Tampa Bay Dewayne White DE Louisville

Round 3
Sel# Team Player Pos. School
65 Cincinnati Kelley Washington WR Tennessee
66 Detroit Cory Redding DT Texas
67 Houston Antwan Peek DE Cincinnati
68 Chicago Lance Briggs OLB Arizona
69 Dallas Jason Witten TE Tennessee
70 Arizona Gerald Hayes MLB Pittsburgh
71 Minnesota Nate Burleson WR Nevada
72 Jacksonville Vincent Manuwai G Hawaii
73 Seattle Wayne Hunter T Hawaii
74 St. Louis Kevin Curtis WR Utah State
75 Houston Seth Wand T N.W. Missouri
76 Carolina Mike Seidman TE UCLA
77 Baltimore Musa Smith RB Georgia
78 Miami Wade Smith C Memphis
79 Green Bay Kenny Peterson DE Ohio State
80 San Diego Courtney VanBuren T Arkansas-Pine Bluff
81 Washington Derrick Dockery G Texas
82 Carolina Ricky Manning CB UCLA
83 Oakland Sam Williams OLB Fresno State
84 Cleveland Chris Crocker FS Marshall
85 N.Y. Jets B.J. Askew FB Michigan
86 New Orleans Cie Grant MLB Ohio State
87 Miami Taylor Whitley G Texas A&M
88 Houston Dave Ragone QB Louisville
89 San Francisco Andrew Williams DE Miami
90 Indianapolis Donald Strickland CB Colorado
91 N.Y. Giants Visanthe Shiancoe TE Morgan State
92 Kansas City Julian Battle CB Tennessee
93 Tennessee Chris Brown RB Colorado
94 Buffalo Angelo Crowell OLB Virginia

I count 18 players here.

It really seems like drafting in this area of the Welker pick is a 50/50 proposition.