King doing his best Shank.
Calculating Patriots got math wrong with Wes Welker
Well, wait a minute. All of the reports I've heard indicate that the Patriots were given a chance to match the Broncos' offer, and elected not to. So, perhaps they are misjudging Welker's "value" (your opinion), but, it's not like they made some sort of miscalculation of what he would be offered. This headline is terribly misleading and, well, dumb.
It is highly unlikely that Wes Welker signing in Denver for a relative pittance is what Tom Brady had in mind when he gave the Patriots $15 million in cap relief two weeks ago.
You know what's even more unlikely? That Brady expected the Patriots to break from their tradition of being unsentimental when building the team in order to sign Welker. Or that the Patriots said "Hey, can you give us a break so we can sign your Welker buddy?". Moreover, how about
asking Brady what he thinks? How the fuck do you know what Brady had in mind? Do your fucking job and give him a buzz.
Well, $12 million for two years' work might not be your idea of a relative pittance. But for a player who has averaged 112 catches a year over his six-year New England career -- and who clearly was Brady's go-to compadre -- the move of Welker to Denver has to be a crushing blow.
Yes. Tom Brady, two-time Super Bowl MVP (pre Welker), three-time SB Champion, fucker of actresses and models, Certified Winner at Life, is likely saying to himself, at this very moment: "How can I go on? How can I ever compete without Wes Welker on my team? Dear God....Help me. I am lost without him!"
"Disappointed"? Maybe. "Frustrated"? Perhaps. "Resigned to the fact that Belichick knows what he's doing, and sometimes that means letting guys go that Brady personally would rather keep on the team"? Definitely. "Crushed"? Not a fucking chance.
The Patriots have proven over the years, as the Steelers have done historically and the Ravens are doing this offseason, that they're comfortable reloading instead of paying for aging has-beens. I get that. Good, forward-thinking business sense. But this isn't Rodney Harrison or Tedy Bruschi. They were really at the end. Welker isn't.
So...Belichick's judgment has almost always been sound on these matters (letting guys go when he thinks it's "the end." But this time, Peter King is correct, and Belichick isn't. Is that what he's saying? I mean, yea, I see the difference in the situations (they are obvious) but Welker is certainly
getting pretty close to the end, in all likelihood, isn't he?
That's what has Pats' fans enraged tonight.
I am not enraged. In fact, aside from one or two idiots like some guy who refers to himself as Old Saint John, I don't know if anyone on this particular fan board is "enraged." Perplexed, or concerned, or worried, or pessimistic...yea. There's a fair share of that. But come on.
New England seemed to respond to Welker inking in Denver with a five-year, $31 million deal for Amendola. The ex-Rams receiver is five years younger and more explosive than Welker, but he's struggled to stay healthy and there is no guarantee he will mesh with Brady.
This is just disingenuous shit. There's no guarantee that Welker will stay healthy, either. King is saying that the move is a mistake because Welker will definitely continue to be awesome, and Amendola probably won't be very good, or will be broken. That's two pretty big assumptions.
Why do I suspect King's love for Welker is, in part, in order to keep King in good graces in the Denver locker room?
Either Bill Belichick vastly underestimated Welker's relevance on the open market...
Again, this is
factually incorrect. Belichick
knew the offer from the Broncos. He opted not to match it. As delicious as it would be to think that the evil Belichick got pantsed on this one, and just whiffed on something, it's not true. It didn't happen. It was his decision not to take Welker back at that price.
...or he was convinced Danny Amendola can sufficiently replace Welker. Maybe it was both
No. It's clearly the latter. Because, as is being reported elsewhere (and noted above), Belichick declined to...oh whatever. Jesus Christ, this guy isn't even reading the sports news before writing his columns anymore.
EDIT: misread "Explosive" as "Expensive."