Welker to test free agent market

[upnorth]

While I don't see him leaving NE, and he is probably asking for more than what we'll pay him, what an addition he would be. I could see him really clicking with Stafford.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story...land-patriots-intends-test-market-source-says

 

[alanclark]

There's still a good chance Welker re-signs with New England, but if he got a better offer elsewhere, which teams could benefit the most from acquiring him? Here are five candidates who seemingly have the cap space and personnel need to pull off signing Welker, including one long shot team that would make a huge splash if it pulled off a free-agency upset.

Detroit Lions


To understand just how dominant Calvin Johnson is, consider that he posted superb yards per attempt (YPA) totals at the short (7.3), vertical (13.2) and stretch vertical (13.9) depth levels. (Note: short passes are thrown 10 or fewer yards downfield, vertical 11 or more yards and stretch vertical 20 or more yards)

The issue for the Lions is that even with Johnson's excellent productivity at the short pass level, Matthew Stafford still ended up ranking 17th among qualifying quarterbacks in short pass YPA.

The reason for Stafford's subpar showing is that when Johnson's targets are taken out of the equation, Stafford's short pass YPA declines from 5.63 to 5.08. That latter number would have ranked 29th in the league and illustrates that, outside of Megatron, the Lions really don't have anyone who can consistently turn short passes into quality gains.

That obviously would change with the addition of Welker and his 7.7 short pass YPA. This move also would help take some of the workload pressure off of Johnson, as it will be very difficult for him to continually deal with the physical punishment that comes from seeing 197 targets (his target volume for the 2012 season).

 

[mhughes0021]

lets set the record for the number of WR and # of $ we can put into the slot WR position in 1 year. Nate, broyles, Thomas and welker would be a good start. someone call Guinness.