Wes Welker has been locked into contract negotiations with
the New England Patriots virtually since the moment the Patriots walked off the
field after their Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants but there has been
very little progress. Instead Welker has had the pleasure of watching the
Patriots receiving core get a whole lot deeper over the offseason.
The latest signing is an ex-Patriot and former favorite target
of Tom Brady’s, Jabar Gaffney. Gaffney left the Patriots’ organization in 2009
to join offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in Denver but McDaniels came back
to New England at the end of last year. It seems that Gaffney has decided to
rejoin his former coordinator once again.
Before signing Gaffney, the Patriots had already signed wide
receivers Anthony Gonzalez, Brandon Lloyd, Donte’ Stallworth and they re-signed
Deion Branch. They also still have Chad Ochocinco under contract and their
dynamic duo of receiving tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.
Brady threw 90 or more passes to two receivers last season
and judging by their offseason moves, the Patriots plan to spread the ball
around a little more. Not that the Patriots’ offense was all that predictable
in the first place but by getting more people involved, the Patriots could be
gearing up for an even bigger year.
But with all of the wide receivers New England has currently
added to its roster, Welker doesn’t have much leverage to negotiate. What makes
his situation even worse is that despite catching over 100 receptions in four
of his five seasons in New England, Welker hasn’t generated much interest in
the free agent market.
He’s a hard worker but most see his production as a product
of the system. Teams have gotten burned before by signing or trading for
ex-Patriots’ receivers who didn’t have the same kind of production with their
new team.
Most of those receivers were more talented than Welker
though. Welker is short and slow compared to many of the receivers that have
come out of New England which has to affect his market value. Although Brady
never seems to like seeing any of his receivers leave, he may be about to lose the
most productive receiver he has had during his career with the Patriots.
But that seems to be how things are done in New England. Welker
may deserve a big contract and there are probably a lot of fans rooting for him
to get it but the only player in New England that can command the kind of money
he wants is Brady.
So what does that mean for Welker? Either he can take what
the Patriots give him or he can do like so many receivers before him have done
which is leave, have a sub-par season or two somewhere else, then come back to
New England at a more reasonable price.
It may not be what he wants. It may not be what he deserves.
That’s just the Patriot way.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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