Patten retires; Welker returns; Related?

Patten retires freeing up a spot on the 80 man roster. Welker comes off of PUP next day.

My speculation is that Patten was signed in the first place because the Patriots were worried about the health of Welker to start the season and Patten was given the opportunity to announce his retirement to avoid the humiliation of being cut.

Burgess not reporting created another spot already, so Patten didn't need to retire to create a spot for Wes.

He retired because he wanted to retire, IMO

No
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Very much doubt it, but I suppose anything is possible.

RayClay said:

No
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+1

Although clearly Patten was brought in to create depth, BB would not have wanted less competition in camp, especially from a guy that was being a positive veteran influence on the youngsters. You need depth like Patten just to make it thru four pre season games.

IIRC, players on PUP count against the 80-man limit. Unsigned players don't.

TheGodInAGreyHoodie said:

Patten retires freeing up a spot on the 80 man roster. Welker comes off of PUP next day.

My speculation is that Patten was signed in the first place because the Patriots were worried about the health of Welker to start the season and Patten was given the opportunity to announce his retirement to avoid the humiliation of being cut.

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Possible, but not likely. Patten was out of the league last year, and even if he looked OK in camp and in practice, who knows how his body feels. On top of that, Patten and Welker do not play the same position, or run the same routes; they really did not overlap at all, except they are both WRs.

SSDD

Welker already counted against the 80-man roster. Burgess going on DNR already created a spot, so they were at 79 to begin with.

TheGodInAGreyHoodie said:

Patten retires freeing up a spot on the 80 man roster. Welker comes off of PUP next day.

My speculation is that Patten was signed in the first place because the Patriots were worried about the health of Welker to start the season and Patten was given the opportunity to announce his retirement to avoid the humiliation of being cut.

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I'm missing the logic.

First, why would it be humiliating for Patten to be cut?

Second, if Patten was going to be a Welker replacement for he six weeks Welker would be on PUP, Patten was still looking at being cut mid-season.

But I cannot imagine Patten being signed to cover Welker's spot. Totally different receiver skill sets.

spacecrime said:

I'm missing the logic.

First, why would it be humiliating for Patten to be cut?

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Are you serious?

Second, if Patten was going to be a Welker replacement for he six weeks Welker would be on PUP, Patten was still looking at being cut mid-season.

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Might have been the plan. Maybe one even share with Patten. BB, "Hey David, with Wes's injury we are bit light at WR, anyway I could enitice you to play this year." "Coach, I am gett'in a bit old, I am not sure I could handle an entire season" "I don't need ya for the whole season, just til Wes comes back. And with your vet status you will get paid for the whole season even if he is ready for week 2" "ok"

But I cannot imagine Patten being signed to cover Welker's spot. Totally different receiver skill sets.

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True, just depth at WR. And I am not saying they would have necessarily cut him at the 80 mark. It might have been one of those deals where with Wes being back, there would not be room for both of them on the 53 man roster and BB told him he has very long odds to make the team and he might not want to go thru the pain of TC, now that there won't be enough WR spots on the final 53.

Or maybe nothing was said, but with Welker's return Patten "saw the writing on the wall" that there were too many WRs on the team for him to realistically make the team.

Really? The "humiliation of being cut?"

I don't think the two (Patten's retirement and Welker's return) are related for reasons already listed. It's a coincidence that they both play WR.

If Tate and Price look good that probably was more influential IMO.

If we take Patten at face value, he quit because he didn't have the heart to keep working and competing at the level he felt the game requires.

In that case, Welker could have been an example to him.

Beyond that, feeling one couldn't win the competition would surely sap one's drive a bit.

I don't think there's any need to slice the salami too finely. All the obvious theories could be true at once.