Wes Welker signs with Denver Broncos / Amendola to Pats (Merged)

[kozlodoev]

This article by Tom Curran makes the situation a little easier to understand:

Well, this changes things a little. Danny Amendola signed with the New England Patriots on Tuesday, about a day before Wes Welker agreed to terms with the Denver Broncos.

News of Amendola's agreeing to a deal with New England broke after the Welker news, making it seem a reactionary move on the part of the Patriots. In reality, the Patriots' reaction came when Welker and his representatives made it clear they would test the free-agent market. With Amendola's contract in place, the Patriots could not afford to let him leave without signing and risk losing both him and Welker. 

The Welker camp remained steadfast that the receiver's market would be in the $8 million to $9 million-per-season range. New England disagreed, which in part led them to prepare for Welker's departure.

And once Amendola agreed, there was no turning back.

[rutzan]

...what a cheapskate...

Say what you want about Kraft but the man invested all his own money to not only buy the Pats but also the stadium and land around the stadium and has built a state of the art stadium and entertainment area down there in Foxborough.

Kraft is a lot of things. I'm not sure its fair to call him cheap. A tough businessman. A bottom line financially type of guy. Yeah he's those things, but not cheap.

Nick, rutzan just hates the Pats, plain and simple. Why bother taking the bait?

if...red crayons sing better than blue crayons...

and...blue crayons sing better than white crayons...

then...red crayons sing better than white crayons...

your point is neither valid or logical...

[Roy H.]

Enough with the labeling others and the infighting, please.

[rutzan]

...what a cheapskate...

Say what you want about Kraft but the man invested all his own money to not only buy the Pats but also the stadium and land around the stadium and has built a state of the art stadium and entertainment area down there in Foxborough.

Kraft is a lot of things. I'm not sure its fair to call him cheap. A tough businessman. A bottom line financially type of guy. Yeah he's those things, but not cheap.

Nick, rutzan just hates the Pats, plain and simple. Why bother taking the bait?

Ahhhh, didn't know that.

crayons don't sing...

[kozlodoev]

Good riddance Wes, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Welker told John Elway and the Broncos that he wanted to win above everything else and they would figure out the money later.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/patriots/10010099525056/welker-introduced-as-a-bronco-thanks-new-england/#ixzz2NYUznGsE

[Roy H.]

Good riddance Wes, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Welker told John Elway and the Broncos that he wanted to win above everything else and they would figure out the money later.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/patriots/10010099525056/welker-introduced-as-a-bronco-thanks-new-england/#ixzz2NYUznGsE

Let the Ray Allen-ing of Welker begin!

[kozlodoev]

Good riddance Wes, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Welker told John Elway and the Broncos that he wanted to win above everything else and they would figure out the money later.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/sports/patriots/10010099525056/welker-introduced-as-a-bronco-thanks-new-england/#ixzz2NYUznGsE

Let the Ray Allen-ing of Welker begin!

Just citing the man. Not my fault if he's shooting himself in the foot.

[Eja117]

Look at Welker's body language after he drops it. He knows.

Yeah.  He's frustrated that his acrobatic attempt to bail out his QB came up just short.

I think Gordon Hayward looked pretty similar after his halfcourt shot against Duke in the 2010 title game just missed.

You had me wondering so I double checked and according to this it looks like he walked around with his head up. Possibly kinda proud or just stunned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Bi7lC6QIQ

Then I checked youtube for pop warner catches. I found this doozy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUohtJedsIg

For relevancy I found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyQtaA7_wC8

In a lot of ways a similar catch.   

[Lightskinsmurf]

Idk how true this is but someone tweeted that welker has the most drops in the postseason since 2008.

[Eja117]

Regarding the drop in the Super Bowl, its real simple. Ask any high school coach, any college coach, any receivers coach, any D-back coach and they will all say the same thing. If the ball hits you in the hands, you have to catch it.

Period.

End of story.

That drop is on Welker. It wasn't the easiest of catches nor the best of throws. But if it hits you in both hands, the QB did his job and now you have to do your job and catch it.


Still say as long as everyone is healthy Welker isn't missed.

I will basically sign onto this. Especially if you square up against it. I do think in some circumstances a receiver can fight hard and produce a miracle just to have a chance at getting the hands on it, but that wasn't the case here.

[Eja117]

^ To me, a "routine catch" and a "good catch" are two separate things.  Just like an "average throw" and a "bad throw" are separate and distinct.

Yes, I agree. You must of read what I said wrong. I said I would have called it a good catch because it WASN'T routine. That catch would have been a notch above routine but still very very catchable.

Especially with no defender near you. Just because it wasn't routine doesn't mean its not a catch you should have made. This is the NFL. Just because its not right inbetween the numbers doesn't mean you get a pass for dropping the ball.

To be clear, I don't expect perfection in a pass.

However, there are different types of off-target throws.  Throws that lead a WR a little too much, or that are slightly too high or too low, are definitely catchable.  They require the WR to make an adjustment, but it's basically within the area where a ball is reachable.

What happened on the Brady incompletion to Welker is different.  His throw required his WR to contort and to totally break stride.  When guys are required to rapidly change direction, that makes a catch very, very difficult.  Balls that are behind a guy are among the most uncatchable balls throw.

I'm surprised that Welker's critics are so vehement on this one.  Maybe we should all pay closer attention to how often WRs catch those "high and outside" balls this coming season.  One group of us is going to be pretty surprised.

I would totally agree with this when Ed Reed or God forbid Pollard are 3 steps away but not when you're wide open, square to the ball, and have a solid second and a half to get your hands on it. Pro Bowl receivers aren't paid to make the easy catches.

[Eja117]

I will say it is interesting to see the contrasts of where blames lies among the various posters on here in regards to those who might be football fans but not Pats fans, football fans who don't mind the Pats, & Pats fans.

Quite the dynamic.

What I find interesting is that there's a 15+ page thread on Welker, and zero threads on how the Pats have only 2 real DBs under contract.

Yeah, but we're used to problems in the secondary. They haven't had one since Asante left

[Fan from VT]

I don't understand.

Welker was great for the Pats.

He dropped a pass that he should have caught that would have clinched a superbowl.

There were many other plays that other people failed to make that could have clinched that superbowl.

There were many times Welker made great catches that ultimately extended the season to make those superbowl appearances possible. He's 32 with concussion history.

Pats want a younger guy for similar money with with similar skills.

Welker was going to try to cash in. Very understandable. 

He probably wanted some pay for past performance or some home-town, loyalty/fan favorite bonus.

The Pats have proven over and over they have a team policy of only paying for projected performance.

Thus two parties couldn't agree on a mutually acceptable contract in a mutually acceptable timeframe.

Welker moved to the Broncos and is saying all the right things; he has every right to be very positive about his new team just like new Patriots are always positive and saying great things about the Pats.



All of those things can be true at the same time, and there may be no villains.





Also, the idea of "cheapskate" owners is the stupidest argument possible. THERE IS A SALARY CAP. YOU CAN'T GO OVER IT. THE PATS WERE GOING TO SPEND THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY THIS YEAR NO MATTER WHAT. BEING CHEAP HAS ABSOLUTELY NO RELEVANCE. THE MONEY NOT SPENT ON WELKER WILL BE SPENT ON OTHERS; MONEY SPENT ON WELKER, IF TOO MUCH, WOULD PREVENT OTHER ADDITIONS.

[Donoghus]

I don't understand.

Welker was great for the Pats.

He dropped a pass that he should have caught that would have clinched a superbowl.

There were many other plays that other people failed to make that could have clinched that superbowl.

There were many times Welker made great catches that ultimately extended the season to make those superbowl appearances possible. He's 32 with concussion history.

Pats want a younger guy for similar money with with similar skills.

Welker was going to try to cash in. Very understandable. 

He probably wanted some pay for past performance or some home-town, loyalty/fan favorite bonus.

The Pats have proven over and over they have a team policy of only paying for projected performance.

Thus two parties couldn't agree on a mutually acceptable contract in a mutually acceptable timeframe.

Welker moved to the Broncos and is saying all the right things; he has every right to be very positive about his new team just like new Patriots are always positive and saying great things about the Pats.



All of those things can be true at the same time, and there may be no villains.





Also, the idea of "cheapskate" owners is the stupidest argument possible. THERE IS A SALARY CAP. YOU CAN'T GO OVER IT. THE PATS WERE GOING TO SPEND THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY THIS YEAR NO MATTER WHAT. BEING CHEAP HAS ABSOLUTELY NO RELEVANCE. THE MONEY NOT SPENT ON WELKER WILL BE SPENT ON OTHERS; MONEY SPENT ON WELKER, IF TOO MUCH, WOULD PREVENT OTHER ADDITIONS.

I think you pretty much nailed everything here.

[Eja117]

I don't understand.

Welker was great for the Pats.

He dropped a pass that he should have caught that would have clinched a superbowl.

There were many other plays that other people failed to make that could have clinched that superbowl.

There were many times Welker made great catches that ultimately extended the season to make those superbowl appearances possible. He's 32 with concussion history.

Pats want a younger guy for similar money with with similar skills.

Welker was going to try to cash in. Very understandable. 

He probably wanted some pay for past performance or some home-town, loyalty/fan favorite bonus.

The Pats have proven over and over they have a team policy of only paying for projected performance.

Thus two parties couldn't agree on a mutually acceptable contract in a mutually acceptable timeframe.

Welker moved to the Broncos and is saying all the right things; he has every right to be very positive about his new team just like new Patriots are always positive and saying great things about the Pats.



All of those things can be true at the same time, and there may be no villains.





Also, the idea of "cheapskate" owners is the stupidest argument possible. THERE IS A SALARY CAP. YOU CAN'T GO OVER IT. THE PATS WERE GOING TO SPEND THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY THIS YEAR NO MATTER WHAT. BEING CHEAP HAS ABSOLUTELY NO RELEVANCE. THE MONEY NOT SPENT ON WELKER WILL BE SPENT ON OTHERS; MONEY SPENT ON WELKER, IF TOO MUCH, WOULD PREVENT OTHER ADDITIONS.

I agree. I don't think it's like the Ray Allen thing, but I think while maybe there are no villains there are maybe some villains. I'm not a big fan of a guy that gets paid a lot to do a job, then fails at the worst possible time, then thinks he's owed a lot more money.

By the same token when Bill played stupid games with no using him or benching him that was dumb too.  Making a possibly insulting offer and not really approaching him appropriately bugs me too. The Pats seem to get into more than their fair share of ugly negotiations and it annoys me. Asante, Mankins, and now Welker.