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

[rutzan]

kraft and belichik have zero class...they burned brady again...last time brady signed a below mkt offer...the pats promptly lost branch...same thing just happened again...i have zero respect for kraft and belichik...

[rutzan]

and what about the 2-faced grandstanding by Kraft..."i want Welker to be a Patriot for life"...he already knew the Pats low-balled Welker and he comes out saying that so he can look good...what a blowhard...

[Smokeeye123]

If we dont get a sexy big name defense of offensive player Im going to lose it. Tired of them getting 10 dimes and hoping some of them stick when they could just get a game changing dollar.

[rutzan]

do you remember when suggs said 31 teams in the nfl hate the pats...i have seen the light...kraft and belichik are arrogant...

[saltlover]

are you freakin kiddin me...what a huge mistake...i'm so p---ed...we offer welker 2 yrs & $10M and he takes 2 yrs & $12M...meanwhile...we give Amendola $10M guaranteed and he freakin missed 20 games in the last 2 yrs...and...we just helped the Broncos in the process...Mcdaniels whiffed on Lloyd...i thought Lloyd was just avg...Amendola will be the same ...avg...Bill trusts McDaniels way too much...will go down as one of Bill's worst moves ever...and i'm  member of the "in bill we trust club"...this is almost like trading troy brown...why not sign Edelman before Amendola...this was a huge whiff...i'm so p---ed...Amendola will miss a ton of games...guaranteed...

I don't think there was any whiffing on Lloyd.  I'm a Broncos fan and I'm ecstatic to have Welker,and I don't know what the Pats were thinking, but I'd take Lloyd back in a heartbeat.

Also, the Pats offense was great last year, better than my Broncos.  I doubt it will see too much of a decline this year.  It always seems to work.

[rutzan]

what is McDaniels' facination with ex-players...really...Lloyd's YAC was one of the worst in the league...Amendola will never match Welker's production...first...he never has...second...welker is a better player...period...third....amendola is made of glass...

[PhoSita]

I'm not happy about this.  Pats come off as arrogant and spiteful with the way they handled this stuff.

They better add another name in addition to Amendola -- e.g. Greg Jennings or at least David Nelson -- to add another element to the offense.  Otherwise they just downgraded for the sake of picking up a younger player.

[nickagneta]

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.

[nickagneta]

I also don't get the hate going to Belichick and Kraft over this. They made a football decision. They feel they have maximized Welker's value and feel paying him what he wanted was a bad investment.

The Steelers did the same thing with James Harrison.
The Ravens did the same thing to Bernard Pollard.
The Bills did the same thing to Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Its a business/football decision. They let go of the older slot WR and signed the younger one with what looks like, seemingly, he has the same skill set that Welker had when the Pats first traded for him at 27 years old.

I was a fan of Welker but I think the Pats will survive this they way they survived losing:

Drew Bledsoe
Lawyer Milloy
Ty Law
Willie McGinest
Mike Vrabel
Damien Woody
Richard Seymour
Asante Samuel
...
...
...
and the list goes on.

[indeedproceed]

The Bills did the same thing to Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Not really...Ryan Fitzpatrick sucks and the Bills signed him to big money like the fools they are. They just walked away from him, he didn't get an offer sheet from another team for them to do it. He wasn't even a FA.

[Snakehead]

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.

Ha yeah, if the ball is within feet of a receiver it doesn't matter where it is at all, it's a good throw no matter what.

I know people are smarter than this.  Trying to figure this out but it's just funny at this point.  It was not a good throw.

[Donoghus]

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.

Ha yeah, if the ball is within feet of a receiver it doesn't matter where it is at all, it's a good throw no matter what.

I know people are smarter than this.  Trying to figure this out but it's just funny at this point.  It was not a good throw.

It's not really an "Either Or" in my book like so many on here are trying to make it out to be. (I also think there are some other motives on here but I digress)

Not the best pass but a catchaable ball.  That play's been made in football at the Pro  level before and will be made again.

[nickagneta]

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.

Ha yeah, if the ball is within feet of a receiver it doesn't matter where it is at all, it's a good throw no matter what.

I know people are smarter than this.  Trying to figure this out but it's just funny at this point.  It was not a good throw.

Never said it was a good throw. Not once. I said it could have been a better throw.

That's not the point.

In football, if the ball hits both your hands, you are supposed to catch it. Doesn't matter if you are a DB, S, WR, RB, whatever. If the ball is in your area and hits both your hands, it is your responsibility to catch it.

Remember my soph year in high school like yesterday. In practice one day I swatted down a pass with both hands and thought I made a great play. Coach walked over, grabbed my face mask and screamed at me for 10 minutes about catching that ball. Its my job to catch it not knock it down. Its my job to catch it and give the ball back to our offense. Just knocking it down does nothing because if I try to knock it down and it bounces in the air, the opposing team, who teaches their receivers to catch anything thrown their way, might catch it and hurt the team.

Got smacked upside the head by the team captain for that one. YOU CATCH ANYTHING THAT HITS YOUR HANDS. That is what I was told before having this huge fist hit me upside the helmet.

If you think this story is not one told by tons of players in high school and college ball you haven't been around football much.

It wasn't a good throw. But the ball got there and hit Welker in his hands. He dropped it. That's on Welker. But you know what. receivers drop balls and Welker is an elite pass catcher. It happens. Brady is an elite QB. He threw the ball behind his receiver when he didn't have to. It happens to all QBs.

[Fafnir]

What coaches yell at players doesn't strike me as all that relevant to the expectations we should have as fans on a given sequence of football.

A play he could have made, but not one that I'd really expect a player to make.

[indeedproceed]

What coaches yell at players doesn't strike me as all that relevant to the expectations we should have as fans on a given sequence of football.

A play he could have made, but not one that I'd really expect a player to make.

I'd side more with this, although I'd say I expect him to make that catch because he's so good, but it wouldn't surprise me he didn't, because its such a tough catch. Kind of like Paul Pierce hitting a critical stepback J with a hand in his face.