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NFLPA wants inquiry on Welker deal to Pats

By Harvey Fialkov
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 13 2007

The NFL Players Association is concerned that the Patriots and Dolphins violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement while putting together the recent trade of receiver Wes Welker and has asked the NFL Management Council for an explanation, according to a source.

"They may have violated the CBA rule that says one club can't offer the player's former team anything that would [sway] that team from matching their offer," the source said. "Anti-collusion [rule], that's another thing that may come into play."



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The source added that the NFLPA's interest in the matter stemmed from complaints made by Welker's agent, Vann McElroy, regarding the devaluation of his client because of possible violations.

The inquiry was also based on a series of newspaper and Internet reports leading up to the trade that indicated that the Patriots were set to give Welker, then a restricted free agent, an offer sheet worth $38.5 million over seven years on March 3.

An NFL.com report said the Patriots were going to include a "poison pill" that said if Welker played four games in Florida, his contract would become fully guaranteed.

No offer sheet was tendered by the Patriots and on March 5, the Dolphins traded Welker, their leading receiver in 2006, to New England for a second- and seventh-round draft pick.

Because the Dolphins offered Welker the mid-level $1.3 million tender on March 2, the Patriots only had to surrender a second-round pick if the Dolphins chose not to match. By sweetening the pot with the seventh-round pick, the Patriots avoided the offer sheet and averted the possibility that the Dolphins would've matched the offer.

The Patriots then signed Welker to a five-year deal worth $18.1 million, with $9 million guaranteed, approximately half the value of the original offer.

The NFL Management Council represents all 32 teams, so in effect the NFLPA is asking the Dolphins and Patriots for an explanation of how the trade went down. The Dolphins chose not to comment on the matter. The Patriots and McElroy didn't return messages.

One agent said that these inquiries generally "go nowhere."

"When it comes to anti-tampering and collusion in regards to players, generally the league looks the other way and hands out a slap on the wrist unless the player's agent gets all frustrated and thinks their player has been devalued," the agent said. "If the player's happy with the offer and the teams are happy, the league's stance is, `Let's move on.''





Harvey Fialkov can be reached at hfialkov@sun-sentinel.com.

Violation, take away both teams 1st 2nd & 3rd round draft picks......

I wondered about this at the time.....The Pats were rumored to be offering 38 mill....Which the Dolphins knew they would not match....then the trade goes through instead....and now Welker could have been a Pat this year for nothing more than the tender offer (if the Pats had chosen to do so)

Seems a little fishy to me.

HACK

Quote:

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Seems a little fishy to me.

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hehe, trades with the fins usually do

The old bait and switch.

I don't think there is any question Welker was hurt by the teams actions.

Looks like about $19Million of hurt. OUCH!

Collusion