<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>RT @<a href="https://twitter.com/mjdambro3">mjdambro3</a>: Welker a patriot next year? ... Doubt it.</p>— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/SI_PeterKing/status/277219088764387328" data-datetime="2012-12-08T01:12:35+00:00">December 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>could we afford him?
Can't afford him. Threading a needle already to retain our own. Plus, Kubiak's too much of a system guy looking for blocking out of his WRs. Welker would be unbelievable in SF.
Im not sure, if they let him go, he is a big part of the Pats, is the best WR they have at the moment, Lloyd hasnt played that well.
Watch Pioli offer him top 3 WR money. It looked like the Pats began phasing in Edelman before he went on IR.
The Patriots are a smart franchise and they know when to get rid of players before they go on the decline. Welker at 31 should start dropping of fast over the next few seasons. The Patriots will let another team make the mistake of signing him.
If the Patriots are REALLY smart, they'd have already gotten replacements for Wes Welker already through the draft or FA. But instead they franchised him. Which means regardless of how much they may not want to pay him, they may not have alternatives. Lloyd has been a huge disappointment, and Edleman seems unable to stay healthy. This may be a case where the Pats are screwed no matter what they do, unless they can find that next hidden gem of a slot receiver.
I personally, can't think of a AFC team that would have the cap room and a decent QB that would gamble on paying him that much. Maybe Miami or Cleveland but the Texans are unlikely to throw that much money into WR position especially if Andre Johnson and Arian Foster are both still around.
Of all the teams mentioned I could see him winding up back with Miami. I don't see a team with an elite QB offering him a ton. A team like Baltimore, if they have the cap probably goes after him.
