Of course the agents are going to defend their actions. What are they supposed to say? The dye has been cast…the truth is out there…Mike Reiss exposed these guys for what they did, period. End of story. They bluffed and they lost. Had they played their cards correctly, Wes would still be a Patriot. They didn’t. Now they talk “collusion”….give me a break….

I believe in Wes Welker’s agent all the way Kraft low balled Welker walk .

Kraft wanted Welker on his terms–and he is not a man to accept anything else. If enough people say Kraft is an honorable man, some may believe it.

Just because the deal was worth $16 million with incentives doesn’t mean the deal was worth more. He would have had to reach those incentives for him to make more. So it had the potential to make more but wasn’t necessarily more.

The Patriots lost.. They lost the best slot receiver in history, and someone everyone rooted and they made the only team in the AFC that is as good as them much better.

In addition to that Brady lost his best friend on the team and a player so dedicated that every year he would work out with Brady. Time will tell if the chemistry Brady and Welker had both in the hurry up offense and no huddle will adversely effect the offense.

Welkers agent is most likely more accurate than Kraft. Read between the lines as Kraft did get involved in last second negotiations and was told by Mr. football genius that to much as been invested in the middle of the field. Sounds like Kraft wanted Wes and Danny and was told no by the gurus who have had the best team in football the last 9 yrs and no Superbowls.

It is hard to dispute that there is collusion in regards to salary capping certain positions by the owners.

Good Luck To Welker, and each year Brady is QB takes the spotlight off of how great BB is.

I don’t care who is telling the truth and who is lying. The numbers are all that matter. The Patriots offered more guaranteed money than Denver and the overall dollars had Welker reached his incentives would have pushed the value of the contract even higher. The Patriots gave Welker huge dollars last year under the franchise tag. If they didn’t believe he was worth paying they wouldn’t have done that. The fact that his market was far below what his agents made it out to be is not the Patriot’s fault. Players seeking the most dollars is logical. Agents misrepresenting the market happens all the time. For all his success as an agent, Scott Boras is notorious for doing this in baseball. Obviously Welker’s agents did the same thing here. It’s a shame but that’s the business side of sports.

So what is to stop the Broncos from releasing Welker after 1 season? The fact is that guaranteed money is all that matters in today’s NFL. The Patriots offered more guaranteed money than Denver. If Welker plays up to expectations he will earn all 12 million in his new contract. Had he accepted the Patriot’s offer and player up to those same expectations he would have earned 16 million. Numbers are all that matter.

The money is guaranteed as long as he doesn’t get hurt

Same as in Denver right?

Kraft made the statements about Welker that he wanted him to retire a Patriot well knowing that he had no intention of paying him fair market value and that he would in turn leave the organization. That was just smart PR by Kraft. I’m sure some professionals are advising him what to say, and he wanted to avoid the backlash for letting Welker walk. Later, he’s come out and said he really wanted Welker, but lets face it, if he really did he would have paid him. The guy was great here and has showed no signs of slowing down, but they think they can replace him for less money, and they thought the same thing last year. When Kraft discusses potential to keep players saying “If he is smart..” or “If his agent is smart..” what he really means is that yes, he can stay here if he takes a deep discount to market. Football is about money, big money. Kraft has not plan to spend more than he has to. He’s making millions and has been well under the salary cap for a number of years now. I think in Wes’s case, Wes took the deal with Denver because he really had no choice but to leave the Patriots and decided to play with the next best thing to Tom Brady. Good luck to him.

I don’t understand how the agent says that the Patriots”never indicated that the team ‘would have even gone up’ on their offer”…why would they indicate that?That’s like putting your lawnmower out for sale with a sign that says”$100 but will take less”

Bob Kraft’s statements/actions during this whole Welker situation have shown us 2 things. 1.) He’s a LIAR. 2.) Not only is he a liar, but he is a FRAUD. Lying not only to Brady but to the fan base while they penny pinch and restructure low contracts even lower, despite the fact that the Pats have a good amount of cap space. Has Kraft been taking “PR” lessons from the idiot frauds running the joke that is the Boston Redsox? And let’s not leave Bill out of this. He’s essentially the GM and has a huge say in who the Pats sign. And he’s failed miserably the last few years, mind you, on top of hiring 2 guys-Patricia/Boyer who aren’t even qualified to unclog the toilets at a bowling alley, to run the Defense/Secondary, who have been a MAJOR reason why the team hasn’t won a Super Bowl lately. He won’t even hire a legit DC because he’s still too butt-hurt at various people who would be upgrades over things that happened in the past. Grow a sack, Bill and swallow your pride. You’re not as invincible and almighty as you think you are. And I’m not even mentioning his stellar ability to draft and develop corners…oh wait.

Only the Patriots lost here. We lost the best slot receive and received an injury prone one instead. The only current difference between this years Pats and last years is a new kick returner, a weaker slot guy. We have A LOT of players with questionable health issues on the team. Pats need a whole lot more depth if they are choosing to put their season on Amendola, Gronk, Hernandez and Talib. Whats more likely, all are healthy at seasons end or all are on IR.

Wes Welker

Have fun in Denver , quit whining and complaining through your agent

You are a completely idiotic and clueless TROLL

Welker was offered more last year and passed
He was offered more this year and passed
His contract is back-loaded , and he may be waived next year before the bonus kicks in .

Same agent told Welker not to accept last year’s offer
They are obviously liars and clueless

Welker was offered more last year and passed
He was offered more this year and passed
His contract is back-loaded , and he may be waived next year before the bonus kicks in , just like LLoyd this year

Welker was offered more last year and passed
He was offered more this year and passed
His contract is back-loaded , and he may be waived next year before the bonus kicks in , just like LLoyd this year

Everything in my post is the truth. Take off the Pats goggles for a second and look at it. “Troll”? I’m a Pats fan. I just have the ability to think for myself and look at facts as opposed to 95% of Pats fans who believe that Bill/Kraft are perfect and are never wrong, and that it’s blasphemous to point out when they’ve messed up.

Let’s take a look:
Boyer/Patricia-Look at where they came from. They’re awful. Check.
Bill consistently missing in Free Agency: Check.
Bill failing to draft/develop corners: Check.
Bill refusing to higher upgrades at DC/Secondary coach because he’s still too butt-hurt over various things in the past: Check. (Just look at Mangini, and that’s just one example)
Kraft saying he wants Welker to retire as a Pat and that they’d make a great effort to keep him, yet Welker’s offer from Denver was far from breaking the bank, lower than most expected, and was easy to match. Kraft’s comments make him a liar/hypocrite: Check.

*hire upgrades

Yeah his denver contract is fully guaranteed as long as he doesnt get hurt, otherwise even if hes cut he gets paid. The incentives were also ridiculously tough to reach, all-pro each year, 1500 yards, and pro bowl starter which is conceivable

Actually that is not correct. Welker gets 6 million for the first year in Denver. If he is cut that is all he receives. His second year he gets another 6 million but only if he’s actually on the team. His cap number for Denver is 4 million the first year and 8 million for the second year so the chances are likely he never sees that second year if he fails to live up to expectations. The Patriot’s deal would have paid him 8 million for the first year guaranteed. The second year would have obviously paid him only 2 million but the incentives would have pushed the total contract to 16 million for both years. So had he accepted the contract offered to him before the Patriots agreed to terms with Amendola he would have not only been paid more to stay here but he would have received more guaranteed and up front. His agent chose to seek more elsewhere because he, like most agents, miscalculated the market for that position.

The thing that hit me hard when watching Kraft talk about this situation was how much he has aged in the last few years. He lost Myra, then started making some wacky decisions. It is clear that he is winding down and that is a sad thing for all Pats fans. He has been a great owner. Is he cheap? Sure. Is he always right? Nope. But, we had the pleasure of having a rich owner who was a fan first. We got lucky. So, this snafu with Welker, when put in this perspective, isn’t really all that important.

Amendola was the most productive receiver in the league last year before he got hurt. He killed the 49ers D. He is a good player. Is he Welker? No. But he isn’t chopped liver. Does he have an injury history? Yes. So has every person who ever played football to some degree. But I’ll take a broken collarbone over what RGIII is going through every day of the week.

What team has had more consistent success that New England? Each year some team signs a bunch of high priced talent and they are proclaimed the new challengers to the Patriots in the East. It was the Jets for a while. They failed to live up to expectations and now they’re free falling. Now its the Dolphins. They aren’t going to succeed either. The key is not to blow everything on a few high priced players. Players get injured, players have off years. They key is to have depth and talent across the entire roster. When you criticize their drafting you fail to acknowledge the successes. Gronk, Hernandez, Hightower, Ridley, Vareen, Mayo, Mankins, Jones, Solder, Spikes etc. While its true that they don’t spend much on free agents they do acquire talent through trades or do you forget the way they added Talib, Dillon, Moss and yes even Welker. No team is perfect and no team has no weaknesses. But I’d say they’ve done pretty well over the years.

You missed some:
Bill consistantly putting a winning team on the field: Check
Bill making the playoffs regularly: Check
Bill making it to the Superbowl regularly: Check (more than any other team in the last what 20 years)
Bill winning more Superbowls than any other team in the 20 years: Check
They offered him a three year deal last year for over 6 mil a year, they franchised him at 9.5mil, 3.5 over market value add that to the two at 5 they offered him thats 19.5 over three with incentives. The fact that he sign elsewhere for 6 tells you Patriot offers were market value.

the only thing i will agree with you on is that BBs draft picks in the last few years have been less than stellar, and thats putting it in the nicest way possible..n we haven’t made any aggressive moves in FA so there’s some mediocrity in the team which is being negated by some stars and solid coaching.
I agree we have needs and i hope we address them soon cos i think our window will close with brady unless we can find another gem of a qb in the latter rounds..also dont be so quick to criticise kraft n BB about welker, maybe it was all part of the plan..maybe BB sees amendola as an upgrade over welker, cos u have to remember we payed the same amount of money to get danny that welker got with the broncos…so its not like we got amendola for cheap and he has shown flashes of brilliance with BRADFORD under center. Kraft and BB are shrewd guys and run a tight ship..i dont always agree with their decisions but u cant dispute the success theyve had