Wes Welker Expects To Be Back In New England Next Year
Added on Jan 30, 2012 by Jack Thurman in
No Comments
New England’s Wes Welker, in theory, could be playing his last game in a Patriots’ uniform in the upcoming Super Bowl. His contract is up after this season and as of yet there’s not an extension in place. Despite this, Welker says he’s ‘not too worried’ about making a deal and fully expects to return next season.
Asked about the situation on Sunday, Welker responded:
“I plan on being back. I am not really too worried about that right now. I am fully concentrated on this game and what we have to do, but I plan on being back.”
Welker may be back whether he wants to or not. Assuming that a deal can’t be reached the Patriots could very likely put the ‘franchise’ tag on the 30 year old Welker. This would limit his ability to test the free agent waters. Despite the uncertainty, Welker is focused on the task at hand:
“This is all stuff that we can address at another point. It can be a story after the season is over, but right now, we are just concentrating on this game and what we have to do to win this game. If you win this game, all of that other stuff takes care of itself.”
Team owner Robert Kraft clearly wants Welker in New England:
“I think Wes wants to be here and we want him her. Hopefully when the season ends, both sides will be wise enough to consummate something. He’s pretty special. Any time there’s a player on this team I can look eye to eye and be at the same level, he’s an important guy.”
Pats’ coach Bill Belichick knows what he means to the team:
“The whole Wes Welker thing started when he was in Miam. He was a very frustrating player to coach against because we really couldn’t handle him. He caught passes, he returned kicks, and then when (Olindo) Mare got hurt he went in and kicked extra points and field goals and kicked off against us, and that was annoying, too.”
“We doubled him, we played him in a lot of different combinations. He was always the guy that we were trying to game plan for. When we had an opportunity to trade for him, we did that, and felt like he’d be a good addition to our team. And he has been.”
“We have just as much trouble covering him in practice, and Tom (Brady) has just as much confidence throwing to him as the quarterbacks in Miami did when we were trying to defend him. We don’t defend him any better in practice probably than we did trying to defend him when he was at the Dolphins.”
The Patriots remain a -2′ or -3 point NFL betting favorite against the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.
