The 4 p.m. deadline for Wes Welker and the Patriots to agree to a long-term extension has come and gone, and no deal has been reached.
Welker will play under the franchise tag in 2012, making about 9.5 million.
We knew this is what would probably happen. I wrote the following earlier today:
...Unless things change drastically from where they were Sunday afternoon, there will be no deal.
Welker could have been a pain in the ass about being franchised. He could have held out into training camp. Instead, he signed early and said on Twitter "I love the game and I love my teammates! Hopefully doing the right thing gets the right results. leapoffaith"Have the Patriots "done the right thing"? Business-wise, probably.
I explain why here in this morning's column.