Wes Welker Going to Denver

Why would you ever want to leave New England and give up playing for quarterback Tom Brady? To play for quarterback Peyton Manning.

Wes Welker has agreed to terms with the Denver Broncos. The contract is worth $12 million over two years. Welker has spent most of his career with the Patriots with this last season being put under the franchise tag. The team opted not to tag him this time around and tried to reach terms with the 31 year old receiver. They failed and are now trying to pursue other options like Danny Amendola.

I didn't think that Welker could better than Belichick and Brady but Peyton Manning in Denver seems just as good. Manning can make any receiver look good but it's hard to believe that he can make Welker look any better than he already is. Welker has caught over 110 receptions in 5 of his 6 seasons with the Patriots. He's a chain mover that will be valuable for Broncos.

Where does this leaves the Patriots? While something tells me that they will do fine without Welker, their offense is still significantly weakened. Welker was their top receiver with the only player with over a thousand receiving yards in 2012 (1,354). To rely on your injury prone tight ends along with Bradon Lloyd might not be enough. Hopefully New England can find a suitable replacement for Welker or at least come up a better way to distribute the ball more evenly.

P.S. Broncos are not my favorite in the AFC, at least not until the rest of the offseason plays out. Both Welker and Manning have great regular seasons and then drop off a bit in the postseason. I can say they are still the overwhelming favorite in the AFC West, though.

Forte and Rice Given New Deals

With the eve of NFL Training Camps and the preseason, some big contracts were not yet settled around the NFL. 2 players with two different teams got their deals done yesterday and both were RB's.

Matt Forte and Ray Rice were in the same boat as they were tagged by their respective teams (Bears and the Ravens) and they wanted long term deals. Who can blame either of them knowing that this league uses up RB's like I chow down burgers. On the eve of possibly holding out, deals have been struck for both players. Matt Forte agrees to a 4 year, $32 million contract and Ray Rice agreed to a 5 year, $40 million contract. Both players are in their mid 20's with Forte being a bit older and this is likely going to be their last big contracts for their careers.

Very important moves for both teams but the Ravens needed Ray Rice a bit more than the Bears needed Forte. While Jay Cutler and Joe Flacco are fine QB's, the Ravens depend on the run a bit more while the Bears seem to be shifting to more passing with the off season they had. Running the ball is still important to the Bears and should be to any team (except the Pats somehow) but the passing game led by Cutler will likely be something they lean on more.

With training camp around the corner, the one star player that seems to not be getting the love from his team is Wes Welker of the Patriots. Now he will play under the tag but still a disappointment he wasn't able to get a good contract from the Pats long term.

P.S. Maybe if you stopped dropping the ball during big Super Bowl moments they wouldn't hesitate to get a deal done.