Louisville Slugger
Footballguy
As I type this the Patriots are hours away from the deadline of placing the franchise tag on Wes Welker. I belive that Welker will most likely end up back with the Pat's, but it's not out of the question they don't tag him and he walks.
From what I understand Welker and his agent are asking near Larry Fitzgerald money and from their point of view I can't blame them. Welker has done everything that has been asked of him and more. Welker has been nothing short of a machine out of the slot for the Patriots and when healhty is always among the league leaders in catches. Beyond that he has been a great team guy and has out played his contract by leaps and bounds and has never publicly complained about it.
The Patriots on the other hand don't seem to want to give a 31 year 5'10 (who in person seems shorter than that) slot wr who has a lot of miles on his body a long term deal. Perhaps they fear Welker won't be able to keep taking the pounding and will lose it overnight in much the same manner that Wayne Chrebet lost it for the Jets. Beyond that the Patriots have two Pro Bowl caliber tight ends and Julian Edelman (who has a similar skill set to Welker granted he is not in the same league as Welker) who could handle much of Welker's short to intermediate routes which would in theory allow the Pat's to go sign a younger deep threat (Mike Wallace would be a perfect fit)with the money they would have to spend on the 31 year old Welker and could use the extra money (Pat's are well under the cap) to go after an impact defender.
Local reporters have been speculating that if the Patriots were to tag Welker he could sit out and this situation could get ugly in the same manner that Logan Mankins contract dispute played out. Either way this is going to be a tough call for the Patriots. How do you put a price on what Welker does for the team? He may lead or be close to the league in cataches on a regular basis, but is he really worthy of being one of the top paid wr's in the game for a three or four year period at his age and size?
Again, I think the Patriots will bring him back, but I would not be shocked at all if they didn't tag him and let him at least test his value on the open market.
From what I understand Welker and his agent are asking near Larry Fitzgerald money and from their point of view I can't blame them. Welker has done everything that has been asked of him and more. Welker has been nothing short of a machine out of the slot for the Patriots and when healhty is always among the league leaders in catches. Beyond that he has been a great team guy and has out played his contract by leaps and bounds and has never publicly complained about it.
The Patriots on the other hand don't seem to want to give a 31 year 5'10 (who in person seems shorter than that) slot wr who has a lot of miles on his body a long term deal. Perhaps they fear Welker won't be able to keep taking the pounding and will lose it overnight in much the same manner that Wayne Chrebet lost it for the Jets. Beyond that the Patriots have two Pro Bowl caliber tight ends and Julian Edelman (who has a similar skill set to Welker granted he is not in the same league as Welker) who could handle much of Welker's short to intermediate routes which would in theory allow the Pat's to go sign a younger deep threat (Mike Wallace would be a perfect fit)with the money they would have to spend on the 31 year old Welker and could use the extra money (Pat's are well under the cap) to go after an impact defender.
Local reporters have been speculating that if the Patriots were to tag Welker he could sit out and this situation could get ugly in the same manner that Logan Mankins contract dispute played out. Either way this is going to be a tough call for the Patriots. How do you put a price on what Welker does for the team? He may lead or be close to the league in cataches on a regular basis, but is he really worthy of being one of the top paid wr's in the game for a three or four year period at his age and size?
Again, I think the Patriots will bring him back, but I would not be shocked at all if they didn't tag him and let him at least test his value on the open market.
