In response to pcmIV's comment:

Santa maybe?

LLoyd is supposed to be cut as well ....so we  have how many WR's now  ???

Oh right.... friggin'  NONE !!!!

Tell me why Brday signed an extension?  To throw to who?   I never thought they'd let Welker go... and to a Manning... you gotta be freaking kidding me.

Does anyone see a "plan" here?   Really ???? !!!

I've always tried to "trust BB" but this is really over the top for me !!!

Someone (BB?) please tell me where we are gonna find 112 receptions next year????

Amendola.... not in the 7-8 games he's healthy enough to play... but wait what a "value" he'll be when he does play

Greg Jennings?  Nah no value there right?

Let's just wait for the undrafted rookie free agents...lots of value there.... I'm gonna hurl

I'm so hot I'm gonna have to  give myself an ice water enema

Jumpin Jesus  !!!!

 

"A source close to the situation telling me that Welker has gone back to the Patriots to see if they'll match the offer"

Either Wes really wants to stay or Denver is just trying to drive up the price.  We'll see.

In response to pcmIV's comment:

i think the hand have their hands tied. do they overpay for welker or let him walk to their biggest rival in the AFC? Gotta choose the lesser of the two evils... IMO, you pay welker. Unless you go out and sign Jennings your not going to find anyone else who will give you the kind of production that Welker would.

My guess would be the Pats don't match - I think the fact Wes explored was a deal breaker for  Pats brass - I don't think they like to be questioned 

In response to mef429's comment:

I think this was a leverage ploy by Welker. If he was honestly dissatisfied with New England and was personally offended by how management handled him, why would he even bother going back to them to ask if they'll match the offer?

To me this sounds like Welker hasn't gotten an offer from/hasn't talked to Denver, or perhaps more likely, it's a less attractive offer than we seem to think it is.

In response to mcboyd22's comment:

I kind of agree, I think the Pats are pretty stubborn when it comes to this.

If they match, then it will look like Welker beat them at their own game.

Elway is tweeting they just signed some JAG LB.  Are they even talking to Welker right now?

Could Denver be playin' us?

Welker to the Broncos would be, if not a disaster, a really tough pill to swallow. Hoping the Pats get off their tuckus and solve this.

Someone above said they like the idea of Welker not getting +100 receptions and I would tend to agree with you, however, I would agree if we had something to fall back on. 

Branch, Stallworth, even Lloyd are not good enough to cover for his loss - in my humble opinion anyway

In response to NoMorePensionLooting's comment:

 

Could Denver be playin' us?

 

I'd put my money on that.

 

Again, as I said above, if Welker was/is so upset with New England how they've treated him, why would he bother going back and asking if they'll match Denver's offer.

Denver being New England's biggest contender, and the whole Brady-Manning thing seems like a perfect target to attempt to get leverage in a deal. 

All the aforementioned evidence makes me think that Denver isn't all that interested, and that the Welker camp was attempting a leverage scheme.

I think the Pats are a "your either in at our number or your out" type of team.  So for me if he goes, I would hope the Pats load up on D, I think the O has plenty of fire power.  We have lost hern and gronk and our O keep going. 

 

They will need to sign a couple of WR's, but there are some good second tier still out there.

epic fail on many levels .....Brady wont be happy and we havent learned anything . We refused to pay Branch back in 05 and we replaced him with Doug Gabriel and Andre Caldwell. Gronk is to fragile to count on . Wes tore an acl and was franchised twice and the Pats screwed him over.......dont blame him for leaving ..........congrats Wes on getting what u got coming .....Broncos have passed us ..with our own players ..thats a shame

Andre Harrison ‏@Harrison101HD 
Rumours are Denver's offering $35m for 4 years on Welker. Yikes, that's a lot of change...

8.75 per year? That's a bit high, but I wouldn't be too upset with New England going 8 - 8.5 per year with more guaranteed money. Or perhaps 9 mil per year for 3 years. 

Definitely not going any higher than 9 mil per year.

Is this what Suggs meant about the "Patriot Way" as being very unfriendly to the player, especially good players who are told to accept what the team wants to pay or walk?  With 31 teams vying for the good players, there is always one team that takes a flyer on a player to achieve that "spark" for that one season miracle.  As Eason11 and many others have said regarding Brady.. how will he react and, the not answered question: "Did he restructure with assurances Welker would be back?".

Sirius is saying that Stokley is a Free Agent having just played his final year at just under 1 Million. He's 36 years old.

They are also saying that Welker will command a minimum of 8 Mil per and wonder how Denver fits him in. It also will cause issues with (I think they said Clady) who they tagged and Dumervill in terms of their contracts.

 

 

 

In response to NoMorePensionLooting's comment:

Sounds like Denver will be hard-pressed to fit him in.. bizzare situation.

Brady will not be as effective if he losses his MOST TRUSTED target. Many here will have to live with a more dangerous Manning and less dangerous Pats O.

 

I will be interested to see what we do end up with at WR. Right now it looks dim and in a passing league that is not good at all. Remember 2006. Well, our D is not yet as good as it was then. And just signing names does not insure success.

I just read on twitter that Albert Breer said the Broncos made a multi-year offer to Welker.  Stupid Patriots!!

Source with knowledge of market says slot receivers are "getting screwed," and that there's now a chance Danny Amendola returns to Rams.

The Pats won 3 SB's w/blue collar WR's. Welker put up big numbers during his Pats tenure but will be remembered for the 2 he didn't catch. No rings and at 32 his best yrs are probably behind him. Peyton likes to spread the ball around, wonder how long before he complains abt not getting enough balls thrown his way? 

In response to chiefret's comment:

Those 3 super bowl championships also came with great coordinators and a great defense. Not like they won with blue collar WRs with the team they currently have.

I don't consider PFT to be reliable, but given the current Welker situation it will be interesting to see if this is true:

"A source with "knowledge of the market" tells PFT slot receivers are "getting screwed," and could lead to free agent Danny Amendola re-signing with the Rams. Players like Amendola and Wes Welker aren't getting valued based on their raw numbers, but their perceived replaceability. Amendola has been the Rams' lone consistent playmaker during the Sam Bradford era, so we'd suspect they'd welcome him back at the right price even after signing Jared Cook. Amendola had reportedly lined up two visits on Tuesday, but the teams were never revealed"