It Looks Like No Long term Deal between Pats and Welker

[Joker]

heh...sports news on WPRI-12 just now...the guy says "Welker will be FORCED to play for the 9.5 million dollar tender"...I wish just once someone would "force" me to do anything for 9 million dollars...hell...force me for 900,000...I'm open to negotiation

 

[BradyFTW!]

The rub will be if they were wrong. Bedard sums it up pretty good.



So like I said in an earlier thread, they have to hope he performs well enough to justify the tag and well enough for them to win but not well enough to be worth $11.5M in 2013 or he's gone. Because no matter how well he performs, they are not going to pay him more than they set their minds to for whatever reason prior to last season...even though he reset the bar at the position performance wise thereafter. Bizarre to say the least.

Agreed on both counts. If they really are unwilling to commit $20M+ in guaranteed money on a three year deal, when that's what 2 tags will get him anyways, then I don't really understand where the Pats are coming from. Unless they don't anticipate tagging him next year anyways, I don't see what they stand to gain.

I'm mostly objecting to the line of thought that a) the Patriots are unwilling to pay premium salaries for premium players, and b) that how they're dealing with Welker is a significant departure from their norm. This is more or less how the Patriots operate, and if it seems different it's only because this is one case where most fans disagree with the Patriots' evaluation of the player in question's value.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Enjoy his last year here boys

 

[supafly]

If they really are unwilling to commit $20M+ in guaranteed money on a three year deal, when that's what 2 tags will get him anyways, then I don't really understand where the Pats are coming from. Unless they don't anticipate tagging him next year anyways, I don't see what they stand to gain.

I would have to seriously think that you completely hit it on the head here, FTW.

There's no way in the world that they are even considering tagging him again next year..or they would have agreed to his terms and everything would have been fine.

However, that still does not entirely rule out the possibility of reassessing the situation at the end of the year and going from there on another deal that could possibly keep him here for a couple more years.

It's looking as if they want to reevaluate after the year, but common sense would point to the odds favoring Welker probably not being here--at least if he is still producing anywhere near what we have grown to expect.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Meanwhile they are probably counting on his not being nearly as vindictive as some of those in their fan base...

If they'd made him even some full of baloney offer (but those are hard to sell absent that remaining year of an old deal) that could have been spun as more than $16M, believe me we'd have heard about it. Frankly Welker was probably embarassed to go into much detail about their dealings beyond that early comment (they apparently didn't appreciate) about them offering less. Nor did they respond well when he briefly talked about holding out on...OTA's. He tried to do what he thought worked with these guys. The message to future candidates for a deal here is good luck trying to figure out what that is.

Dunn has 9 players he represents here...

I think the message to their players is clear, always go to open market and never sign a tag with the Patriots. Never give them any discount because they won't appreciate it in any way.

I always supported the franchise tag designation because i want teams to be able to retain their mosty important players if possible, however the players really screwed up by not placing conditions upon that would have prevented the kind of abuse of it that the Patriots demonstrated in this instance. The franchise tag should be dependent upon a team being willing to get a longer term deal in place, with a minimum of 3 years, and they should have insisted upon ann independent arbitrator to determine if a team was dealing in good faith in trying to reach a longer term deal. The Patriots are essentially using the tag to deny Welker a well deserved payday and long term deal, the 2 year 16 million deal is a joke as an offer, and a real insult to Welker. Deus is right, Welker's agent would have been completely negligent to have allowed Welker to take it without resigning as his agent. And while pretty much everone agrees that Welker's market value is not that of Johnson or Fitzgerald it sure as hell matches that of Pierre Garcon and Santonio Holmes and any deal offered by the Patriots in that area would be acceptable as an actual attempt to come to agreement, whereas their offer clearly isn't and is simply a stalling tactic which will make it tougher for Welker to get the deal he has earned. As big a fan and supporter as I am of the Patriots I think their conduct here is disgraceful and a real low point for them as a franchise. You can't treat your best people like this in any organization without repercussions and I think this will really affect Brady's approach to his next contract. The Patriots just put the screws to a guy Brady deems their best player, and a player he has leaned upon heavily for years, that won't go without notice.

 

[RayClay]

If Welker can demand a multi year contract at top dollar from some other team next year, he will have "won" in that sense. If not, who's to say he doesn't resign here?

If i were a betting man, I don't know if I'd say he would outdo the contract he could have received here (not knowing terms), but we'll see.

Also, as has been noted, being forced to accept almost 10 mil for next year isn't exactly a loss.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Wes Welker did everything a player is supposed to do.

Like many in the NFL, he worked hard. While it has always been juvenile and simple minded to portray Welker as this scrappy little white dude playing a position mostly populated by blacks, utilizing only grit, mental acuity and duct tape -- Welker is straight up talented, period -- he has indeed been one of those men who made the most of his abilities.

He rarely complained publicly about his contract status. He just produced Hall of Fame numbers. Last season he had a career-high 1,569 receiving yards. Since 2007 no receiver in football has caught more passes. There has been no slowing down and also no arrests or Gronkifications. Just Super Bowls and big numbers and a fairly classy demeanor.

Oh, and there was something else: trust in the Patriots they would one day take care of him.

Now, that doesn't mean the average person should feel sorry for Welker, because he's going to earn more than $9 million this season, but from a football standpoint, absolutely ... totally ... screwed.

Welker's signing of the tag this year, instead of potentially holding out, was an olive branch. The Patriots took that branch, applied a saw, and then ate it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Welker learns harsh lesson as Pats answer peace gesture with no contract - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy

 

[Huckleberry1]

Welker learns harsh lesson as Pats answer peace gesture with no contract - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy

Welker's signing of the tag this year, instead of potentially holding out, was an olive branch. The Patriots took that branch, applied a saw, and then ate it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.



That's exactly how I see it.

 

[RayClay]

Welker's signing of the tag this year, instead of potentially holding out, was an olive branch. The Patriots took that branch, applied a saw, and then ate it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.



That's exactly how I see it.

Do you think the guaranteed 9.5 million dollars wasn't a factor? That's a lot of money to some people.

 

[Deus Irae]

Do you think the guaranteed 9.5 million dollars wasn't a factor? That's a lot of money to some people.

Why would it have been a factor, beyond the "aww shucks" reaction from Welker? The Patriots weren't going to pull the tag and, if they did, Welker would have made more on the open market.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Do you think the guaranteed 9.5 million dollars wasn't a factor? That's a lot of money to some people.

Not when he signed it, he could have waited until the last minute to sign the tag but chose to do so early to send the message that he trusted them to negotiate in good faith and he said so, his mistake, I don't know any reason a player would repeat that mistake in the future. Welker should play the season out and tell the Patriots he has no interest in dealing with them any more.

 

[RayClay]

Why would it have been a factor, beyond the "aww shucks" reaction from Welker? The Patriots weren't going to pull the tag and, if they did, Welker would have made more on the open market.

More than 9.5 million a year? For how many years?

 

[RayClay]

Not when he signed it, he could have waited until the last minute to sign the tag but chose to do so early to send the message that he trusted them to negotiate in good faith and he said so, his mistake, I don't know any reason a player would repeat that mistake in the future. Welker should play the season out and tell the Patriots he has no interest in dealing with them any more.

What if they offer him a better deal than any other team next year?

 

[Kontradiction]

Welker learns harsh lesson as Pats answer peace gesture with no contract - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy

With the Patriots declining to do a long-term deal, this is likely Welker's last year in New England. It's possible the Patriots could use the tag again next year but they probably won't. In all likelihood, Welker is gone, and I think the Patriots will regret it.

No we won't. He's old and washed up. There's a chance he might get injured and Edelman can EASILY replace him.

It's amazing to see, actually, how screwed up this system can at times be. Dallas' Anthony Spencer was tagged by Dallas because of a down market on pass rushers but he will basically make the same amount of cash next year as Welker. It's crazy.

Wow.

 

[Deus Irae]

More than 9.5 million a year? For how many years?

Depends on how the market shook out. However, it's not 9.5 million a year. It's 9.5 million total.



big difference

 

[Huckleberry1]

What if they offer him a better deal than any other team next year?

They won't, they have already made that clear, and they applied the tag to prevent that from happening because they knew it would. That's what makes this disgraceful, as they never had any intention of negotiating in good faith and simply used the tag to deny Welker a market value long term deal. All they had to do was make a reasonable offer but they didn't. As much as I want Welker to finish his career in NE I think he should tell the Patriots to drop dead, and if he gets a cold he should tell them he can't go, don't want to get really sick and risk jeopardizing his health.

 

[RayClay]

Depends on how the market shook out. However, it's not 9.5 million a year. It's 9.5 million total.



big difference

How many years is the 9.5 million for, maybe I'm confused.

 

[RayClay]

They won't, they have already made that clear,

They said they wouldn't sign him after this year no matter what? Do you have a quote?

 

[Deus Irae]

How many years is the 9.5 million for, maybe I'm confused.

You've been around long enough to know that the franchise tag is a one year deal. You're not confused. You're just doing a piss poor job of being a smart ass.

 

[Huckleberry1]

They said they wouldn't sign him after this year no matter what? Do you have a quote?

They made him a bullsh.t offer and you know it, If they wanted him beyond this year they would have made a real offer. If you want to play games you'll have to find someone else to do it with because i'm not interested.