Everything Ends Badly

I get it. It’s a big deal. It hurts. But the Ravens wouldn’t pay Anquan Boldin $6m, either.

I’m just, you know, saying…

 

So, if it had been Welker for two and twelve instead of Amendola for five and thirty-one, I won’t lie. I would’ve been happier than I am right now. And I started saying goodbye to Welker a week ago. 

It seemed simple enough. If a deal had been possible, it would’ve been done a long time ago. Since it hadn’t been done it seemed obvious it never would. For whatever reasons, mommy and daddy would not be staying together and the kids could only look on in sobbing confusion and inconsolable anger as the muted recriminations echoed in the next room.

Let me say this about the reported Tom Brady comments. Smart negotiators like Bill Belichick not only don’t make promises they don’t have to, they tell you that nothing is certain. Thanks for the cap space but the Patriots might get outbid for Welker or Talib or Vollmer in free agency, Tom.

Maybe Brady is angry because he thinks two years and $10m wasn’t a fair offer. It made me wonder if the Patriots had offered two and twelve but the Broncos offered $13.5m and Welker walked, would I feel any different? Yeah, the math makes a difference. Except in the sense that in either case, Welker is still gone.

I think he was gone the day he signed the franchise tag before the 2012 season. I think the failure to strike a long-term deal then hurt Welker. He’d come back from a devastating knee injury. The year before he was franchised he’d rang up his fourth season of 100+ receptions and set career bests in yards, first downs and touchdowns.

I know. It’s a tough business. Let’s take a look at the cap hit for Amendola and see what the Patriots have left for Vollmer and Talib. Let’s see if they sign Josh Cribbs. Maybe Dwight Freeney or Osi Umenyiora? Who knows what’s left to come?

Still, I can’t help wondering, what are the Patriots doing at wide receiver? Is the maddening Brandon Lloyd, long thought to be a cap casualty, coming back? Can Tom Brady turn Jeremy Ebert into a poor man’s Jordy Nelson? Who the hell is Kamar Aiken? Will they sign Julian Edelman and can Edelman stay on the field? 

Will Amendola be able to start all sixteen?

It’s early. I should take a breath.

And for the record, I’ll be happy if Amendola can start fourteen.

It’s also hard to deny that Denver, a team one bone-headed defensive breakdown away from hosting the AFC Championship game last year, just got better. You just know Welker is going to make that clutch catch in this year’s AFC Championship game against the Patriots, don’t you? It almost writes itself.

If we want to warm our hands over the flames of someone else’s fiery death for a moment or two, we need look no further than the Baltimore Ravens. You know, the team that wouldn’t pay their slot receiver $6m for 2013 and when he wouldn’t take a pay cut they shipped him off to the 49ers for a sixth round pick. Then they let DE Paul Kruger sign with their division rivals, the Browns. Finally, the guy they'd made their absolute #1 priority to re-sign, ILB Dannell Ellerbe takes his talents to South Beach. Did I say “finally?” How could I forget Ed Reed, last seen visiting the Houston Texans. And they cut Bernard Pollard, too, didn’t they?

Yeah, enjoy that Lombardi Trophy while you can Ravens’ fans!

And no.

Still don’t feel any better.

Okay, this made me feel a little better...