Larry Brown Sports

No matter how he tries to spin it, Tom Brady is not happy that the New England Patriots allowed Wes Welker to sign with the Denver Broncos this offseason. Welker had been Brady’s favorite target for six years, with the two connecting for an average of 112 passes per season. When Brady restructured his contract to give the team more cap space, we all assumed Welker’s return was a given.

We were wrong.

Brady had to have discussed the return of Welker with New England’s front office. He was reportedly furious when the Patriots supposedly would not budge with their offer to the veteran receiver, but he has been with the team long enough to know how business oriented they are.

“Those aren’t my demands,” Brady told WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan on Thursday when discussing why he restructured his deal. “I want us to field as competitive a team as we possibly can. And I have all the trust in the world that Mr. [Robert] Kraft and Jonathan [Kraft] and coach [Bill] Belichick will do that. There’s nothing about me, I don’t say that, I’m not general manager, I can’t say, ‘Look, I do this, you do this.’

“I don’t think anything surprises me any more in the NFL. I’ve been around long enough to see things happen at different times with the greatest players of all, whether that’s Wes, or Randy Moss being traded from the Raiders, or Brett Favre playing for the Jets and the Vikings. That’s what happens. Like I said, it’s a very tough, competitive business.”

Brady has begun working one-on-one with Danny Amendola and has probably already gotten over the departure of his close friend. That’s the type of competitor he is. That being said, there’s nothing No. 12 could say to make me believe the Patriots didn’t give him the impression that bringing Welker back would be more feasible if he signed an extension. Anyone who knows the Patriot way knows better than that.

Tim Tebow is still in search of an NFL job, and many have speculated that the New England Patriots would be a logical destination if he is willing to give up on playing quarterback. Bill Belichick is known for getting the most out of players and showcasing their versatility, so some have wondered if the Patriots could use Tebow as an H-back or tight end.

According to Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports, that is not going to happen. Citing “organizational sources,” Silver reported on Wednesday that Belichick actually “hates” Tebow as a player and does not feel he could find a use for him. And Tebow is certainly not going to be replacing Tom Brady in certain situations during a game.

“No chance,” a source reportedly told Silver. “Plus they wouldn’t like the circus that comes with it.”

Tebow’s following may have been a positive at one point, but it is now a negative for many teams. It’s not necessarily his fault that fans put up billboards in his honor and consider him to be Jesus himself, but most teams are not willing to deal with those types of shenanigans for a role player.

Josh McDaniels may have fueled the Broncos’ decision to draft Tebow during his short tenure as the head coach in Denver, but Belichick hates distractions. The Jets insist Tebow was not a distraction for the team last season, but we all know what a heaping pile of bull that is. It’s hard to see how the Patriots would benefit from bringing Tebow on board. The fact that Belichick reportedly “hates” him as a player should put the speculation to rest.

H/T Pro Football Talk

Wes Welker played the role of safety valve to perfection for Tom Brady for six seasons. Any time the New England Patriots had to have a first down, Brady would always be looking to go to Welker. Now, the three-time Super Bowl champion will not have that option. Instead, he will have to rely on the newly-acquired Danny Amendola and his dynamic tight end duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark wonders if the aforementioned players will be enough. During an appearance on “NFL Live” On Monday, Clark talked about Welker’s importance to the Patriots, which he thinks has been understated.

“I think what’s really underestimated is Wes Welker’s importance to not only the New England Patriots, but Tom Brady,” he said, via ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss. “A lot of what they do is timing. A lot of what they do is option reads, when you’re working inside against that nickelback or against those linebackers. Losing him is huge.

“I know they think Danny Amendola can come in and have the same type of numbers he had with the Rams, but we also have to remember, he’s fragile. He’s not a guy who has completed a whole season, especially playing inside in what can be a physical AFC East. You also think about Gronkowski and the injury; that is going to be bigger than anything for the New England Patriots coming in this year.”

The Patriots were not as concerned about Amendola’s injury history because most of his injuries have been to the upper body, but Clark makes some valid points. The chemistry Brady and Welker developed isn’t going to be instantly replicated by Brady and Amendola. Gronkowski’s health is also a major concern. However, there wouldn’t have been much bulletin board material for Bill Belichick to use if Clark had stopped there. He didn’t.

“In 2010, we saw it start with the Jets in the playoffs,” he continued. “When Tom Brady gets pressure and when you’re man-to-man and bumping those guys and making it hard for him to throw, he sees ghosts. Even when guys aren’t around him, even when he’s not about to be sacked, when his clock goes off in his head that the ball should be out, we’ll see him duck, we’ll see him flinch. When you get Tom Brady doing that, the whole New England Patriots mystique goes away.”

Again, some valid points. But Brady will probably use those points as motivation before the Steelers play the Patriots on Nov. 3. Health will be a major concern for New England heading into the season, but the same can be said for a lot of teams. Is it possible that this guy could be the answer? No, I didn’t think so either.

Chris McDonald and Nick McDonald have a chance to join an elite group of people this upcoming NFL season. Both are currently on the New England Patriots roster, with Nick having joined the team in 2011 and Chris signing as an undrafted free agent following the NFL Draft last month. Both are offensive lineman. As you may have guessed, they are also brothers.

However, the McDonald brothers are a bit more unique than some of the other brother combinations that have played together in the NFL. Nick and Chris were separated as teenagers and adopted by different families. Now, they are reuniting with the opportunity of a lifetime.

“My brother is [an inspiration],” Chris said, via ESPNBoston.com. “But it’s on me. My brother being in the NFL is not going to help me stay in the NFL and I have to do whatever it takes for myself.”

Chris was an All-Big Ten honorable mention last season with Michigan State, but he made it clear that he does not feel having Nick on the team gives him any added chance of earning a roster spot when the regular season rolls around.

“Not at all,” he said. “I think every single person at this level is good. You have to think about what you can do to make yourself better and make the team better. It’s not even just Nick, I see every single guy here. There’s a lot of [rookie] free agents on this team that have played and I’m truly blessed to be a part of a program that has free agents and have played a lot and it just shows that you have to work hard and do whatever it takes.”

Even if one or both of the McDonald brothers don’t make the Patriots’ roster, they must already be enjoying the ride. They get to spend almost every day together, which is something they did not get a chance to do during their teenage years.

H/T Reddit

Adrian Wilson has been in the NFL for 12 seasons, and he has worn the same jersey number every year. The veteran safety was always No. 24 with the Arizona Cardinals, but that number is already occupied with his new team. Cornerback Kyle Arrington, who has been with the New England Patriots since 2009, currently owns the hypothetical “rights” to that number.

But Wilson still wants it, and he’s willing to negotiate if Arrington will listen. Arrington and his wife welcomed their first child into the world last week, which inspired Wilson to create a unique proposal.

“I offered him a year’s supply of Pampers,” Wilson told Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe. “Hope he gets back to me.”

Wilson later tweeted Young and added that he might have to offer Arrington some formula in addition to the diapers to sweeten the pot.

I like the creativity. Arrington recently signed a four-year, $16 million extension with the Patriots, so simply offering him cash probably wouldn’t have cut it. Like this MLB pitcher could tell you, bringing the offspring into the equation can be a powerful negotiation tactic. For Wilson’s sake, we hope Arrington isn’t as stubborn as Buffalo Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay was when it came to giving up his jersey number for Mario Williams.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft tried to explain how the whole Wes Welker ordeal went down from the perspective of the team on Monday. Basically, Kraft blamed Welker’s agents. He said they misrepresented Welker by thinking he was going to get more on the open market than he was actually capable of getting, and that it was that line of reasoning that inspired the Patriots to move on Danny Amendola.

Not surprisingly, the agency that represents Welker claims that is not how the negotiations unfolded.

“Both sides are clear that the Patriots made one offer to Wes Welker since the prior negotiations ended in July 2012,” Athletes First wrote in a statement to NFL.com, which also praised Kraft for being a tremendous NFL owner. “Both sides also agree that this two-year offer came just hours before the start of free agency despite discussions that began at the NFL Combine. Moreover, this lone offer was presented as a ‘take it or leave it offer.’ When we asked if there was room for structural changes, we were told no.

“We made a counter-offer for the same term and same maximum dollar amount as their offer and it was rejected. We inquired if any of the offer’s components were negotiable and were told no. This refusal to actually negotiate made it easy to reject the Patriots offer. Nevertheless, when we received the Denver Broncos’ offer, Wes personally talked to Mr. Kraft to give the Patriots the opportunity to match it. The Patriots rejected this opportunity and Wes signed with the Denver Broncos.”

As Kraft said on Monday, he felt that incentives made New England’s offer better than Denver’s. However, there is some discrepancy over whether or not the incentives would have be reasonably attainable. Athlete’s First, while being quick to point out that it was not “blaming” anyone for what happened, said that the Patriots made it clear their offer was non-negotiable.

Time to move on. Personally, I believe both stories to an extent. The Patriots were likely stubborn with their initial offer and it sounds like Welker’s agents believed they were going to get far more than two years, $10 million with incentives. They did get more guaranteed money with the two-year, $12 million offer from the Broncos, but the Patriots had reportedly already secured Amendola by the time Welker came back with the Broncos’ offer. It sounds like the two sides were closer than they thought they were just before free agency began, which probably led to the divorce.

Wes Welker signed with the Denver Broncos on Wednesday, and there has been a ton of speculation about whether it was more his decision to leave or the decision of the New England Patriots to push him away. If Welker did indeed return to the Patriots after he was offered a two-year, $12 million contract from the Broncos to give New England a chance to match, why didn’t they want him at such a reasonable price?

Perhaps the reason is that the Patriots had already signed Danny Amendola. According to CSNNE.com’s Tom E. Curran, New England actually inked a deal with the former St. Louis Rams wideout on Tuesday. Apparently the Patriots had already made up their minds when Welker’s camp informed them that the 32-year-old would be testing the free agent market and seeking an annual salary of somewhere in the $8 million to $9 million-per-season range.

Curran said that the Patriots’ line of thinking was that they could not afford to miss out on both Welker and Amnendola. Since their offer to Wes was reportedly two years, $10 million, they clearly realized they were nowhere near the $8 million his agents said he would seek on the open market. In other words, New England did not react to the Broncos signing Welker by quickly locking down Amendola — he was already a Patriot.

It’s obvious that the Patriots did not value Welker all that highly. However, you have to wonder if they would have matched the two-year, $12 million offer had they not already gone ahead and signed Amendola. Perhaps they thought there were teams out there who would have offered significantly more than that, thus causing them to shift their focus when they realized there would be no hometown discount offered. The dynamics of the NFL are even more crazy and unpredictable than we thought.