Wes Welker signs with Denver Broncos

[chasa]

wes will regret leaving for 2 million more over 2 years

 

[Hardboiled]

It's not a matter of the Patriots not matching the Denver offer or being too cheap to stop him from going to a conference rival. The Patriots didn't lose WW. They didn't want him.

 

[crew1954]

So the Bronco's have a guy who lost his fastball throwing to a guy who has lost a step?

edit: Thinking about that. Peyton throws behind the receiver, but the receiver is now slower so the throw won't be behind anymore it will be in front. Might work.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I'm reminded of the day I joined this forum. The Patriots had just cut Lawyer Milloy, and much like now, the (much smaller) community was ripsh1t. Including me. The team ended up doing pretty well that year. Four more Super Bowl appearances has led me to give Belichick the benefit of the doubt, if not some of you. If he thinks that money is best used elsewhere, I believe him.

I've also thought that maybe he wants sturdier guys running some of those routes -- tight ends and larger receivers.

If by "sturdier" you mean "larger," fine.

But if you mean "tougher," I don't think any WR or TE in the league has—or at least had—Welker beat.

That said, I am reminded of something I posted a few months ago: in 2011, when the Patriots had him on the field nearly nonstop for the entire season, his production notably flagged in the second half of the season. In the first half of the season, he went from 14.5 YPC to 10.9 YPC.

In 2012, he went from 12.2 YPC the first half of the season to about 10.6 YPC the second half.

Obviously, this isn't the be-all and end-all, but it at least supports the "wearing down" theory.

Also, please note that I'm not happy with the move; I'm just trying to understand what seems, at first, almost incomprehensible.

 

[blackglass3]

Let the Jets fans jump with joy. Them shutting down Welker in the 2010 AFC Playoffs might have been the catalyst for no contract offer in 2011, the franchise tag last year, and this years low ball offer.

Jets fans should worry about their team. They haven't had a winning record OR beaten the Patriots in the last 2 season, and I highly doubt any of that changes this season.

 

[Bruins29]

Yep! When you have 2 probowl tight ends you dont need an all pro Slot Receiver. Sure it would have been a luxury but not with a sieve defense and no downfield threat.

D wins championships. Brady won SBs with less weapons with a stout D. The D the last several years has been terrible. No matter how many O weapons you have they were not going to win with this D.

 

[Uncle Rico]

It's not a matter of the Patriots not matching the Denver offer or being too cheap to stop him from going to a conference rival. The Patriots didn't lose WW. They didn't want him.

I think that's 100% clear now. I have to agree with Bedard who's been saying on Twitter, basically, "fair enough, so why not just tell him that?"

It's been a great run with Wes, historic in many ways, and though I wish he had gotten a ring here I certainly cannot hope he gets one now. Though I'm not going to bash him in any way other than rooting for Denver to suck.

As fans I guess we don't have a lot of choice but to see what BB and McDaniels envisioned this offense being going back to early last year (I can only imagine how badly this team would have ended up without Welker in '12). Maybe BB has had enough of seeing the likes of the Giants and Ravens winning the title with teams that more closely resemble the SB-winning Pats teams, while his own Patriots more closely resemble the early-millennium Colts, and is going in an entirely different direction. We'll see.

 

[DaBruinz]

Yep! When you have 2 probowl tight ends you dont need an all pro Slot Receiver. Sure it would have been a luxury but not with a sieve defense and no downfield threat.

D wins championships. Brady won SBs with less weapons with a stout D. The D the last several years has been terrible. No matter how many O weapons you have they were not going to win with this D.

A stout D starts with a better than average D-line. We have a gaping hole next to Wilfork right now,regardless of whether the Pats play the 3-4 or the 4-3 Under. Deaderick and Love are back-ups, not starters and certainly not starting 5-Tech guys for the LDE position.

The only guy who really fit that in free agency was Chris Canty and the Pats didn't seem interested.

Beyond that, the Pats need a starting Corner and a Slot Corner. They could also need a 2nd starting Corner depending on what happens with Dennard's trial.

That's a lot of pieces to fill and it's questionable whether or not the current crop of Veteran CBs is capable of that.

 

[goheels22002]

My instinct is that at my level of knowledge this was a poor decision, but I am smart enough to know that there are factors that infuence these decisions that I could never have enough knowledge or insight into to pretend that I am judging the decision on the same amount of information BB is.

There have been many posters on this board taking a negative view of Welker's value, and I have felt, as I stated above, he was unique in what he brings. It is clear that, at least at this stage of his career, BB sees it closer to the detractors viewpoint than mine.

Great points. I want to think this is a poor decision at "just" $6 million per year for two years. But I will hold my fire until we see what the receiving corps as a whole looks like.

My fantasy was Welker, Hartline, Lloyd, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Ballard. That ain't gonna happen.

I do not think that this is Belichick agreeing with detractors, as much as the Patriots deciding that they put a price on the wide receiver position relative to other positions. It is also an age issue. They've gotten younger everywhere but the QB and receiver positions.

This move frees up $5 million per year for other guys at that position. Let's see what Belichick picks up at the receiver store.

 

[Bruins29]

Exactly! We have much bigger issues than a ******* slot WR especially in a TE heavy system. I would think they are looking to fix these holes and get back to what worked. Or hopefully what will work going forward.

 

[dryheat44]

Exactly! We have much bigger issues than a ******* slot WR especially in a TE heavy system. I would think they are looking to fix these holes and get back to what worked. Or hopefully what will work going forward.

Perhaps BB figured there was only money in the budget for 2 of the big 3. I'd gladly sacrifice Welker for a greatly improved secondary and OLine continuity.

 

[Henroc]

by the way danny amendola just got signed 5 yr 31 million deal

 

[Uncle Meat]

Re: Schefter: Denver in serious talks with Wes

I'm disgusted by the way we've treated this guy. The "cheapness" of this team knows no bounds. spit.

Also, people seem to forget that Welker was making next to nothing for the production he was giving the Patriots for YEARS and YEARS before they franchised him last year.

I'm surprised that he didn't get more money than the Broncos gave him, personally. I would think Welker would want a longer deal too. He's earned it.

Anybody that thinks that Welker "betrayed" the Patriots is being ridiculous. This is a business, and he sure as hell doesn't owe the Patriots ANYTHING. He's the one that got the short end of the stick for a long time.

Welker is one of my favorite players in the league. He sure landed in a good spot in Denver for himself.

 

[DaBruinz]

Exactly! We have much bigger issues than a ******* slot WR especially in a TE heavy system. I would think they are looking to fix these holes and get back to what worked. Or hopefully what will work going forward.

This is part of your problem. Welker was MORE than just a slot WR. He lined up all over and ran ALL the different routes. Not to mention that he was on the same page as Brady more often than not.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

So BB doesn't sign Adam V. arguably clutchest kicker and 2 time game winning Superbowl hero which he signs with arch rival Colts and P.Manning for a few measly bucks and we all know how that ended up for AV.

Now BB lets Welker go and sign with Broncos and P.Manning for a measly 12Mil 6 per 2 years hopefully that will not end up like AV with Colts.

Looks like that both gave BB "One Finger Salute" On'da way out!
Anyway Thank You Wes Welker for your time here and welcome Amendola hopefully will contribute and get a rhytym with Brady that won't miss a beat.

 

[BradyToAmendola]

See ya.

Hopefully Amendola will be able to make the clutch catches in the super Bowl/playoffs that Welker can't.

 

[Bruins29]

This is part of your problem. Welker was MORE than just a slot WR. He lined up all over and ran ALL the different routes. Not to mention that he was on the same page as Brady more often than not.

Its not my problem but lets look at the word problem. If we dont fix this defense then it wont matter how many WWW we have? Correct?

And WWW and Brady being on the same page got us ZERO superbowls. I will repeat that again ZERO. A great D and unpredictable (spread the ball around O) got us 3 Superbowls.

I know that everyone is enamored with stats because an explosive offense is more exciting, and fantasy football is all about Offense and Madden and blah blah blah...

But, it was time for a change...WWW diddnt want to be here anyway. We aren't getting rid of our tight ends, we need a burner and huge help on D.

Maybe Amendola is just more versatile and that was worth the investment, not to mention all the other tangibles i.e age, size, speed.

Its a shame we couldn't keep WWW BUT we weren't winning superbowls. Sorry. I don't care about chemistry because we won superbowls with average WRs.

 

[Ring 6]

Great points. I want to think this is a poor decision at "just" $6 million per year for two years. But I will hold my fire until we see what the receiving corps as a whole looks like.

My fantasy was Welker, Hartline, Lloyd, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Ballard. That ain't gonna happen.

I do not think that this is Belichick agreeing with detractors, as much as the Patriots deciding that they put a price on the wide receiver position relative to other positions. It is also an age issue. They've gotten younger everywhere but the QB and receiver positions.

This move frees up $5 million per year for other guys at that position. Let's see what Belichick picks up at the receiver store.

I don't mean Belichick is agreeing with detractors, I'm saying the detractors opinions appear to be more in step with BBs than those of us who felt Welker was critical. And yes, age is a factor in that, just as wear and tear probably is too.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

And we play denver this year...how the hell are we going to cover him...


He is going to be amazing with manning in denver

 

[IcyPatriot]

There is no flaw in anything I posted. There is no set definition of "dynasty", so picking an argument over which year it died and using that as justification for the "well find another team" argument should have been beneath you.

When you and BradyFTW! start making posts that are worse than troll posts, it's time to call it a day, so I'm just going to put this thread on ignore and hope you two pull your heads out when posting elsewhere.

You need a new rock ???

Archive feature on this site is entertaining hot air.