Lots wrong with Globe's Welker story

Boston Globe wannabe contrarian Chris Gasper weighs in on the Wes Welker situation today, and the piece is fraught with ridiculousness, as per usual with Gasper. Let's begin, shall we.

Welker took a leap of faith when he signed his franchise tag tender in May. On Monday, the deadline for franchised players to sign a deal for more than their one-year franchise figure, his leap landed with a splat and without a lucrative long-term contract, his show of good faith and in his faith in the Patriots going unrewarded.

Is it a leap of faith to sign a deal guaranteeing you $9 million, or just smart business on Welker's end? It's smart business.

There is something unseemly about draining a player of all his best years and not properly compensating him for it. 

What is unseemly about it? Um, he was properly compensated for his best years. It's not like he worked for free over the past 5 years. Was he underpaid, sure, you could make a case for that. But he did sign the deal, after all.

When a player like Welker, who long ago outperformed the five-year, $18.1 million contract he signed to join the Patriots in 2007, has sufficiently outpaced his pay stub for years and gets stiff-armed when he tries to collect, there is either apathetic silence or a salute to the franchise for its business acumen.

Wait, what? There was no apathetic silence nor was there any salutes to the franchise. And what does "stiff-armed when he tries to collect" mean? Again, he was actually paid for his performance.


This is just another in a lone line of critical pieces about the Patriots, just to be critical. The Pats haven't "won" anything. Now, if Wes leaves after this year, the outcry Gasper is looking for will be in full force. But let's wait a year and see how things turn out, K?