New England Patriots Player Profile: Wes Welker

June 23, 12:03 AMNew England Patriots ExaminerSean Crowe

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Patriots' wide receiver Wes Welker
(AP Photo)

In this edition of New England Patriots Player Profiles, we'll take a look at the best possession receiver in the NFL.

Wes Welker

The Patriot acquired Wes Welker from the Miami Dolphins on March 5, 2007 for second and seventh round draft picks. The Patriots had considered offering the restricted free agent a contract with a “poison pill” that Miami could not match (which would have cost them only a second round pick), but decided that “doing business the right way” was worth the seventh round pick.

After the trade, the Patriots signed Welker to a five-year, $18.1 million contract. The deal included a $5.5 million signing bonus, a $3.5 million option bonus in 2008, and base salaries of $1.65 million, $1.9 million, and $2.15 million in the final three years. There’s also a $250,000 roster bonus and a $100,000 workout bonus in each of the last three years. Welker is signed through the 2011 season.

Welker played his college ball with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He was a dynamic college player, finishing with 259 catches, 3,019 yards, 21 rushing touchdowns, 79 carries for 456 yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns.

He won the Mosi Tatupu Award in 2003, which is given to college’s best special teams player.

Yet, despite all that, Welker was not considered a good NFL prospect. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t even invited to the NFL Combine. Scouting, as they say, is an inexact science.

Welker was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego Chargers after the 2004 draft. He never appeared in a game for the Chargers, and was waived on 9/15/2004. He signed with the Miami Dolphins six days later.

Welker made his mark initially in the NFL on special teams. Though he didn’t catch a ball for the Miami Dolphins in his rookie season, he became an impact special teams player. He was second in the NFL with 10.8 yards per punt return and also averaged 23.2 yards per kickoff return. He finished the season with 1,879 total yards, 464 yards on punt returns and 1,415 yards on kickoff returns.

Every significant game in Welker’s NFL career has either been against or with the New England Patriots. The first significant game of Welker’s career came in his rookie season, when he filled in as the field goal kicker for an injured Olindo Mare. Welker became the first NFL player since the merger to record a punt return, kickoff return, kick a field goal, and kick an extra point in the same game.

Welker was a bigger part of the Miami offense in 2005 and 2006, but once again saved his best performance for the New England Patriots. Welker came out of nowhere to record nine catches for 77 yards against the Patriots on October 8, 2006. In retrospect, that game was the launching point for Welker’s NFL career.

He finished the 2006 season leading the Dolphins with 67 receptions for 687 yards and one score. He also returned 48 kickoffs for 1,048 yards and 41 punts for 378 yards. He was, by far, the Dolphins’ best offensive player.

Welker is the Dolphins' all-time leading kickoff returner, both in total yards and number of returns. He’s also tied for the Dolphins' franchise record with 127 punt returns and is second all-time in punt return yardage.

And yet they thought a second round tender was enough…

Welker has been ridiculous since coming to the Patriots during the 2007 offseason. Since coming to New England, he’s led all NFL receivers with 223 receptions. He’s also compiled 2,340 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

Player Analysis:

Wes Welker has been tremendous since the Patriots pried him away from an asleep-at-the-wheel Miami Dolphins team. He’s been the ying to Randy Moss’ yang. The perfect possession receiver.

He comes into this season shooting for a third consecutive 100 reception season. Only Jerry Rice (3 straight) and Marvin Harrison (4 straight) have achieved that feet.

He’s not as flashy as Randy Moss, but he’s just as important to the Patriots’ offense. And at an average of $3.5 million per season, he’s an absolute steal.

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Questions? Comments? Insults? You can email them to Sean Crowe at scrowe@gmail.com.

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