he won't get a ton - there are just a bunch of good WR's out there.

Desean, VJax, Bowe, Steve Johnson, Colston, Reggie Wayne - and Welker.

Unless they can get him for a decent price, I would rather they spend the big bucks on a receiver that can get downfield, and give Edelman a chance to become the slot receiver. Of course, I would rather have Welker and a downfield threat. Just saying if we can't have both, I think Edelman can do a serviceable job, and the offense becomes tougher to defend with a legit deep threat.

Would also like to see them sign one of the many good FA corners out there, and hope Dowling pans out for more depth at corner. That would let them keep McCourty at safety, where I think he looked like a better fit.

I believe they have the money to do those things, and that still leaves them with 4 picks in the first 2 rounds.

We're almost certainly going to franchise Welker and ignore all of the rest of these guys, if history tells us anything. Maybe BB has already decided that none of them could "get" our supposedly quantum physics offense. Who's the last desirable FA we picked up? And by desirable I mean actually coveted by other teams, not our usual crop of reclamation projects.

Pats have money to spend and high draft picks to play around with, but what makes anyone think they're going to do anything that makes sense with those resources?

thanks for reaching out. it's been a lot easier on boston sports fans because despite what everyone loves to say...we know just how awesomely spoiled we have been in all of the sports around here recently. i mean hell, our ****ing lacrosse team even won the big one last year. i truly hope you get to taste some of that as a fan of cleveland. i still remember the world series and feeling for you guys. watching the browns fans i can say i empathize what the feelings you have must be. the patriots were that for a long, long time.

as for the offsides, i didn't think it was but i never watched a replay. i think it's ninkovitch without looking. i'll look now.

I'm not sure what the franchise number would be for Welker, but I think it's probably too much if they can get one of the legit deep threats available for a similar price. From what I understand, it shouldn't be as difficult to come into this offense as a stretch the field type receiver vs. an underneath type guy. Plus they will have an offseason this year to work on timing stuff.

I really believe the offense would be better with:

Legit deep threat, Edelman, *Branch, Gronk, Hernandez

vs:

Lame deep threat, Welker, *Branch, Gronk, Hernandez

* Assuming Branch will be back but who knows


Maybe that's crazy IDK but for some reason I think they will consider it.

Branch must be a MENSA member, because it appears that it is.

I agree completely with your comparison of those options, I just am skeptical we'll get that elusive deep threat, because a) the Pats are pretty bad at attempting to draft/develop one and b) the Pats shy away from "proven" FAs in their prime.

I wish it would change. I am sick of the Torry Holt/Joey Galloway/Ocho experiments. They were all failures.

I kind of really hope we use both of our first-round picks this time.

It's a little crazy to think Julian Edleman (4 receptions in 2011, 7 receptions in 2010, and 37 receptions in 2009) can be anywhere near effective as Wes Welker (122, 86, and 123 receptions in the past three seasons).

If we let Welker walk, we lose a serious offensive weapon.

The wide receiver franchise tag is expected to be roughly $9.4 million this year (down from $11.5 million last year) according to nfl.com.

franchise welker and sign a solid tall WR with solid jump ball skills and then draft a super speed guy in the mid rounds. BLLoyd would be perfect as he would break defense coverages by getting behind the CBs/FS on deep routes and/or causing huge holes to open up underneath to Welker,Woodhead,and the TEs

Hell even under the radar guys like the Early Doucets or a Steve Breastons of the NFL would probably be a beast with Brady throwing to them.

Whats more interesting is who is the starting RB next year?

I don't think Edelman will be anywhere near as effective as Welker, but I do think he'll be serviceable.

What I'm basically suggesting is swapping a great slot man + non existent deep threat for serviceable slot man + great deep threat.

I would just rather spend the 9 million + per season for the stretch the field type receiver. I can't see them franchising Welker and signing a legit deep guy, and they've failed several times in the draft and with most of their reclamation project wide outs. (Moss being the obvious exception.)

I'm not even sure I would want them to franchise Welker and sign another very good receiver. Would rather spend some big money on a corner, then use the picks for depth at O line, LB, and in the secondary.

I'm just musing anyway. They're definitely dealing from a position of strength, and bringing back Welker certainly isn't going to upset me if that's what they choose to do.

Didn't Edlemen have durability issues when pressed into full time service? Welker is a known quantity and a damn good one at that. Sign him or fanchise him whichever makes the most sense for the team.

I'm not aware of durability issues with Edelman.

The last time Asante Samuel touched the football in a Pats uniform was when he let it go through his hands in a spot that would have won us a Super Bowl if he had caught it.

Here's to hoping Welker doesn't become the 2nd Patriot with this on his record.

That's definitely my preference. Ideally we could keep Welker and draft/sign a legit deep threat, but it's not very realistic. Whatever it takes to provide some semblance of a threat that we'll throw outside the numbers.

im sure brandon lloyd wont cost too much, he will prob take a discount to follow mcdaniels

Your wife must be very happy.

It's probably unfair of me to project that on him but when pressed into regular duty when Welker was down for a few games he immediately got dinged up.

People seem to love Edelman for his versatility, but what does he do in particular at an above-average level? He seems to me the ultimate "jack of all trades, master of none" type player. Which of course suits the Pats, but I'm not particularly excited to see him anywhere on the field.

Makes sense to who? YOU? haha. Come on Salva. You got to be kidding me.

They had a ton of draft picks last year and the best moves they made were signing Waters and Carter to small deals (which were actually incredibly successful moves, to be fair). Filling areas of need is what makes sense to me. Let's wait and see what they do.

did drafting Dowling "make sense" b/c we needed a CB? or did it not "make sense" b/c he got hurt?

Solder had a very good rookie season. Probably above expectation. And protecting Brady seems to "make sense" to me.

And what Kneel said. And I think everyone, myself included, was wondering why they drafted two TE's the year before. Seems to "make sense" now, doesn't it?

As I've said a million times, it's just seems so foolish to question the moves of an organization that has been at the top for so many years. Especially now that they just made another SB this year.

I like speculating as much as the next guy but questioning (given the track record) just doesn't make much sense to me.

Cannon and Solder look to both be awesome draft picks.

Dowling gets a NA

Mallett was a high pick who'll we'll have to wait and see on
Vareen and Ridley will both be much more valuable next year, as I doubt Law Firm comes back unless it's very cheap
and trading a 4th round pick for a guy who could come and be immediately be a valuable part of the offense seems like it was a good move. this offense would have been much worse without Branch this year, and good chance he take some cheap discount to hang around and be a possession guy

Haynseworth move was obv. a bust but what did that cost them? ditto for Ochocinco.

I think the impression you get is that last offseason was bad b/c the 2 high profile moves went bust

I'll rephrase: our most successful moves last season, despite having a ton of draft picks to work with, were signing Waters and Carter as FAs.

Solder was a very good pick. The jury is still out on Vareen and Ridley, no one is denying this.

And re: what "makes sense"... I'm fine with the Dowling pick, I don't **** on anyone until they've proven they can't play.

I don't want to debate the merits of last year's draft. It's obviously incomplete.


The simple fact is that Brady masks a ton of deficiencies on this team and pointing to our record doesn't address the underlying issues, which Goodie doesn't seem to want to acknowledge.


We went to the Super Bowl. That's beyond awesome. Let's try and make some solid moves that help the team win another while we still have a Hall of Fame QB at the helm, and perhaps even win a few games after he's gone.

A "ton" of deficiencies? I don't think so. The only ones that I can even think of are Secondary and maybe a deep threat (although it's really tough to call that a deficiencency when the offense is so f'ing good). I think with Spikes, the LB"s are pretty solid. The D-line is also pretty solid. They could use more of a pass rush but even that was way improved this season.