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

[Snakehead]

Bad move by the Pats, disrespecting an All-Pro.  2 years, $10 million is an insult for a guy of Welker's caliber.  Signing with the Broncos is a big middle finger to the franchise.

Gosh, this really is Ray Allen all over again. The Pats paid Welker $9.5M last year, but wanted to drop to only $5M per?!? What's wrong with them.

And Brady's mad about this (understandably). Pats are in big trouble. If they even get Amendola, he's an injury waiting to happen. So they'll have, what? Edelman and Lloyd? Ugh.

Plus Gronk and Hernandez, as talented as they are, can both be labeled injury prone at this point.

[Cman]

Wait, $6M per year for two years?
I'm am willing to bet that the Pats offered more than that.
I guess Welker just didn't want to play for the Pats. In which case, good riddance, and I hope you suck for years to come.

Schefter tweets the Pats offer was lower. That's just bizzare.

edit:

"@GregABedard: Patriots initial offer was two years and $10 million with incentives." Out done by 2million if that -.- #Patriots

Agreed. Totally bizarre....
Oh well. Time to move on, I guess.

[Bahku]

This is really lousy news, all the way around ... the Pats should've done what they needed to keep Wes happy, but I don't see him thriving in the Denver system like he did here, either, so a bad move for him a well, IMHO.

[KGs Knee]

I an failing to see why Pats fans feel Welker should have taken less money to stay with the Pats.

Pats basically disrespected Welker, have done so in the past, and he's supposed to stay?

[Neurotic Guy]

This is really lousy news, all the way around ... the Pats should've done what they needed to keep Wes happy, but I don't see him thriving in the Denver system like he did here, either, so a bad move for him a well, IMHO.

Expand on this if you would.  My initial reaction was that I would have been OK for him to go just about anywhere other than Denver.  Manning-Welker beating Brady is a miserable thought.  Tell me why you think it may not work out so well in the Denver system.

[Roy H.]

This is really lousy news, all the way around ... the Pats should've done what they needed to keep Wes happy, but I don't see him thriving in the Denver system like he did here, either, so a bad move for him a well, IMHO.

Welker may be less productive in Denver, but I think improving Denver's offense while weakening New England is well worth $6 million per season.

[Cman]

I an failing to see why Pats fans feel Welker should have taken less money to stay with the Pats.

Pats basically disrespected Welker, have done so in the past, and he's supposed to stay?

No, you've got it all wrong. Most of us Pats fans are shocked that the Pats didn't offer Welker more. So shocked, in fact, that we initially assumed Welker left New England to take less money from the Broncos....

[Donoghus]

It'll be interesting to see that comes out in the next couple of days. 

I'm guessing a lot of what is being floated out there right now is pure speculation by the media.

[Lightskinsmurf]

The fact the patriots offered what they offered is telling me they have a plan in place and weren't going to overpay welker under any circumstances.

Ill wait to see what they do the rest of free agency before I jump down the pats throats. They haven't been the most consistent team in the NFL for no reason.

[KGs Knee]

@Cman

That makes sense.  If I was a Pat fan, and what is being reported is true, I'd be furious with the Pats' management.

Seems right in line with how they treat their players though.

[Fafnir]

Ill wait to see what they do the rest of free agency before I jump down the pats throats. They haven't been the most consistent team in the NFL for no reason.

They're consistent because of Brady, same with Peyton's teams. They'll still be good because Brady's awesome.

[BleedGreen1989]

Ugh it's a sad day. I'd have no problem if somebody broke the bank on him and he left but the Pats can't match 12mill over 2 years!? That's a bargain. We always say "in Belicheck we trust" but it seems to get harder and harder

[Lightskinsmurf]

Ugh it's a sad day. I'd have no problem if somebody broke the bank on him and he left but the Pats can't match 12mill over 2 years!? That's a bargain. We always say "in Belicheck we trust" but it seems to get harder and harder

There's really only two options. Belichick is a moron, or he has a plan in place. I don't think any of us think belichick is a moron. Lets wait and see how this all pans out before we hang ourselves. And yes I agree, ^ we're consistent mainly because of bradys awesomeness.

[Donoghus]

@Cman

That makes sense.  If I was a Pat fan, and what is being reported is true, I'd be furious with the Pats' management.

Seems right in line with how they treat their players though.

This current regime has always taken a very business-like approach which can certainly appear that they're ice cold  (Milloy, Branch, Samuel, Seymour, Welker, and plenty).

However, they've also been pretty good at letting a guy go a year too early rather than a year too late.  That's played in a part in them remaining a title contender year after year for the past decade plus. 

They can be hardlined but they're also not going to get pigeonholed by guys that they deem expendable.    They've also gone the other way and generously rewarded guys with extensions like Wilfork, Gronk, Hernandez, Brady, etc.

Even the times they've swung & missed, its mostly been of the low risk, high reward quality and didn't cripple the organization. 

However, if the numbers being reported with Welker are true, then even I find myself scratching my head here.

[Neurotic Guy]

Pats basically disrespected Welker, have done so in the past, and he's supposed to stay?

He shouldn't have stayed --  he made the right move.  But time will tell as to whether the Pats made the right move.  I am not one who cares much about the respect factor.  Everyone in the world who is offered less than what they think they're worth feels disrespected. And it happens every day in every walk of life.  Any employer who has a budget HAS TO try to get the most he can out of the least money. If the Pats put a low offer on the table, they knew the risk and therefore must be OK with losing him.   If they're OK, I'm OK, given that BB and Co. know more about running an NFL football organization than I do. 

You do not pay for lifetime achievement or to avoid hurting someone's feelings.  If you do, you end up doing something like paying a hobbled David Ortiz 26M for 2 years -- and you get blasted by fans for that.  In this case, it's surprising they didn't offer more -- but notice that no one in the NFL offered near what Welker reportedly wanted.

Let's see what the Pats do from here.