Wes Welker is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent starting March 12th. At that time, Welker would technically be free to shop his talents elsewhere and see if there is any interest from other teams for his services.
After being franchise tagged by the New England patriots last season, many have assumed that the team has no interest in giving a 32 year old slot receiver a long-term deal. And with a franchise tag that would force the team to pay a base salary of $11.4 million, there has been a growing sentiment that the two sides will part ways this off-season. According to NFL Network’s Albert Breer and Ian Rapoport though, it appears the two sides may agree to a long-term deal after all.
After wanting a long-term deal last off-season, Welker couldn’t have been happy with receiving the franchise tag so I’m certain he wants a long-term deal.
The two sides appear to want to stay together, so I think something will get done eventually. It is all about finding that magic number of guaranteed money.