Bedard With Toucher & Rich: Welker Deal Could Be Done This Week
Greg Bedard covers the NFL and the New England Patriots for the Boston Globe and he joined Toucher & Rich to discuss Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker's contract.
The guys discussed Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez and how he plays his position and Bedard compared him to Jermichael Finley when he was getting his deal done with Green Bay. Finley's agent went over how many snaps his client played as a typical tight end, how many times he lined up in the slot and the times he was in the flex position.
Can this really affect how much these guys are worth? What Hernandez's value in this Patriots offense without Tom Brady?
"I'm very leery of the talk about and we've heard it about Wes Welker and when we talk about other options in this offense about like the influence that Brady has. I mean obviously Brady is tremendous and one of the top players in the league if not the best but, a lot of these guys have unique abilities. I just think that you know Hernandez can, his translates in any offense."
Does this make Wes Welker much more expendable if the Patriots can get things done with Hernandez?
"It's apples and oranges," said Bedard. "I mean the Wes Welker thing is going to come to a head way before Aaron Hernandez is up. We're into the last week, it's got to be by 4 p.m. a week from today where they need to come to a contract extension with Wes Welker or they have to wait till after the regular season. It makes completely no sense if they're going to extend Wes Welker to do it later rather than sooner. If they want to get it done, if they're going to extend him and they want him around for two, three, four years it needs to be this week."
Did the fact that Welker signed the franchise tag so early in the process help him in possibly getting a deal done before the deadline and what kind of guaranteed money could the pro bowler be looking at?
"I wouldn't be surprised if something happens between the team," said Bedard. "I was optimistic early on then I was pessimistic. Now I'm back to being a little more optimistic. I would say at this point it's about a fifty-fifty chance that Welker gets something done at some point before the deadline."
Plus as we head into training camp at the end of the month who are the odd men out at the wide receiver position?
