Somewhere Wes Welker is Smiling...

Karma is a b****, and the New England Patriots might be feeling her wrath after their mistreatment of former wide receiver Wes Welker.

Welker who has been the Patriots most productive receiver over the last six seasons, was unceremoniously allowed to walk in free agency as the Patriots opted for a youth movement in their receiving corps.

Many people including Welker believed that he should have been reward for the amazing production and durability he has shown during his time in Foxborough. Quarterback Tom Brady even had his contract restructured thinking the team would use some of the savings to retain his favorite target.

But the Patriots had other plans. They signed former Rams wide receiver Danny Amendola for the same amount that Welker ended up signing for with the Denver Broncos.

Welker even tried to give the Pats a chance to match the contract before he actually signed with Denver but the Pats refused. They were dead set on getting rid of him for some reason we may never know.

Of course the official reason for allowing him to walk will be his age but regardless of age, Welker has been the most productive receiver in the league the past six years.

Welker caught over 100 passes in five of the six seasons he played in New England.

You want to know how impressive that is? In the same six seasons, stellar wideouts Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson and Roddy White have a combined six 100-yard-catch seasons.

The Pats will say that Brady and the offensive system they have in place area big reason why Welker was able to be so productive but there have been many wide receivers to come through New England over the past six years. None have been nearly as productive as Welker.

New England was also counting on the continued development of tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski to offset their dependence on Welker but Gronkowski has had four surgeries this offseason. He may spend more of the rest of his career on the injured list than on the field.

We don’t even have to mention the situation involving Hernandez. There’s very little chance he will ever suit up in an NFL jersey again.

Which leaves the often injured Amendola to fill the void left by Welker’s departure. Many people felt signing the injury-prone receiver was a bad move to begin with, it may be even worse if he crumbles under the work load created by the Hernandez and Gronkowski situations.

But of course you can never really write off the Patriots. Brady is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league and Bill Belichick is still one of the league’s top coaches.

The Pats are still too talented and too well-coached to miss the playoffs. That is unless karma has some more plans in store for them…

Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He can be contacted at sportmentalist@yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.