Robert Kraft says Wes Welker's agents might screw things up
I think every Patriots fan who's of the right mind believes that the Patriots have to try and sign Wes Welker. He's really the most reliable receiving option the Patriots have. Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Julian Edelman have dealt with injuries in their young seasons and Brandon Lloyd is Brandon Lloyd.
Wes Welker has been the go to guy to get you a first down, time and time again. It seems like Patriots owner Robert Kraft is pretty cognizant of that. I also kind of get the sense he doesn't think Welker will be back.
"Like I said all along, it takes two sides to make a transaction and then we have to manage the lawyers and the agents that they don't mess it up," said Kraft. "I think Wes wants to be with us and we want him here so it's just a matter of whether both sides can be intelligent."
It sounds like Kraft is maybe cautiously optimistic at best.
It seems like forever ago but you may remember a bit of drama this off-season with the whole Wes Welker saga. Welker revealed some contract details and said things were getting worse. The Patriots then got upset about that and eventually the two sides couldn't come to an agreement before the deadline. All that means is that they would have to wait until after the season, and when Welker becomes a free-agent, to hash out a deal.
The Patriots could franchise Welker and then negotiate said deal without being stuck in a bidding war. However, they also have two other free-agents they might want to do that with - Sebastian Vollmer and Aqib Talib. My bet is that they use it on Vollmer.
The main point of disagreement seemed to be that the Patriots wanted to pay Welker like a slot receiver while Welker wanted to be paid like Larry Fitzgerald. (We have a pretty good breakdown of where the Welker thing stands now here)
Anyway, publicly criticizing Welker's representatives probably isn't the best way to get on the right foot again. But I'm sure Kraft knows more about this stuff than I do. He did solve the NFL Lockout after all.
Wes Welker has been the go to guy to get you a first down, time and time again. It seems like Patriots owner Robert Kraft is pretty cognizant of that. I also kind of get the sense he doesn't think Welker will be back.
"Like I said all along, it takes two sides to make a transaction and then we have to manage the lawyers and the agents that they don't mess it up," said Kraft. "I think Wes wants to be with us and we want him here so it's just a matter of whether both sides can be intelligent."It sounds like Kraft is maybe cautiously optimistic at best.
It seems like forever ago but you may remember a bit of drama this off-season with the whole Wes Welker saga. Welker revealed some contract details and said things were getting worse. The Patriots then got upset about that and eventually the two sides couldn't come to an agreement before the deadline. All that means is that they would have to wait until after the season, and when Welker becomes a free-agent, to hash out a deal.
The Patriots could franchise Welker and then negotiate said deal without being stuck in a bidding war. However, they also have two other free-agents they might want to do that with - Sebastian Vollmer and Aqib Talib. My bet is that they use it on Vollmer.
The main point of disagreement seemed to be that the Patriots wanted to pay Welker like a slot receiver while Welker wanted to be paid like Larry Fitzgerald. (We have a pretty good breakdown of where the Welker thing stands now here)
Anyway, publicly criticizing Welker's representatives probably isn't the best way to get on the right foot again. But I'm sure Kraft knows more about this stuff than I do. He did solve the NFL Lockout after all.
