RealGM

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/90485 ... er-broncos

Wes Welker is saying goodbye to Tom Brady and hello to Peyton Manning.

The Broncos agreed with Welker on a two-year contract worth $12 million, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The Patriots responded quickly to Welker's loss by agreeing in principle on a five-year, $31 million deal, including $10 million guaranteed, with St. Louis Rams wide receiver Danny Amendola, a league source told Schefter.

Letting Welker go, is a bonehead move if I ever saw one!

You could see this coming. Amendola is 27 with more size and a much better resume than Welker had coming to NE. There is just no loyalty or sentimentality in football. The only concern I have with Amendola is durability which is an issue all over the offense for NE right now.

I'm not sure how good Amendola will be but it appears Welker was let go for two reasons. Age and the Patriots apparently really liked Danny Amendola and wanted to take that gamble. I think the Patriots probably feel that the advantage the Welker has on running the short routes is made up by the fact that Amendola has more speed and may be able to open up the field a bit more then Welker. The Patriots were going to have to replace Welker in about 2 years, they really are just doing it a couple of years early.

The Patriots don't pay for past performance, they pay for what they expect you will produce going forward. Welker will be 32 soon and in wide receiver years that is old. Still I would have signed Welker to the 2 years 12 million dollar contract based upon what I know but I may be underrating Amendola's potential and too scared of the durability concerns.

sully00 wrote:Amendola is 27 with more size and a much better resume than Welker had coming to NE. There is just no loyalty or sentimentality in football. The only concern I have with Amendola is durability which is an issue all over the offense for NE right now.

Does he have a better resume than Welker had? Welker's receiving yardage in Miami was about the same as Amendola's in STL at the same ages (and by Amendola's current age he had two 1,000 yd seasons with the Pats under his belt).

I guess by the basic numbers they are similar. They went to the same school too. Welker seems to have had a better college career. It might seem like overkill to go back and look at college performance, but if nothing else I think it is obviously beneficial to gauge a player's consistency over many years, and also in recent years preparing for fantasy football drafts, and drawing on my knowledge of performance curves in the NBA, I have come to realize that collegiate performance before the age of 21 often seems to separate the players from the not-so-players. It tends to check out if you go back and look at NFL players' collegiate stats.

God help Danny Amendola with the wrath he will face if he is injured or underperforms. If he or the team struggles he will end up with a (expletive) middle name really quick.

Durability concerns are legit though. We've got a bunch of guys that can move the chains. Address the pass rush and deep threat and I'll get over losing Wes

I'm gonna sound more ungrateful then I should sound, but chalk that up to the Welker fanatics who are "now roooting for a Denver SB" I've had to listen to, but good riddance in a way. I appreciate what he's done (though those drops stick out worse than Amendolas collarbone) but he joined up with the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning ffs. The Broncos, who as PATRIOT fans (not JUST WELKER fans) we've had a distaste for ever since Elway would whoop our butts in the 90's.

I have zero problem with those criticizing the money we gave Amendola, I think it was silly and done for spite, but why must fans feel bad for Welker because the organization didn't take care of him but then think it's okay he joined a rival team that will challenge us for the SB? I'll clap when he comes to foxboro and gets introduced, and then it's boo's

Welker is one of those guys who is pretty good - but maybe not quite as good as all the praise heaped on him. At least that's what the Pats evidently think. I like them to get a more classic Randy Moss type all purpose stud reciever to replace him. I want a guy who will break things open if defenses don't show em mad respect..

And honestly - and this is not really fair. But he did seem to make some key drops. True without alot of his key catches we wouldn't have made it as far. But his drops as the WORST possible time do leave a sour taste in your mouth..

Yeah, he did miss a few important catches. Still, I hope we don't get burned by him. I better be wrong about this but we will miss him. And on top of that, playing with Peyton Manning is adding insult to injury.

I loved Welker, but

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/co ... ove/21799/

I don't think it was the patriots organization's fault, they offered a identical amount of money than that was given to him in Denver. Pats offer I think about 10 million and incentives, while broncos about 12 million. I think Welker wanted to leave or their was major miscommunication.