New England Patriots will probably keep Wes Welker

Wes Welker and the New England Patriots have been making progress in recent contract talks following Tom Brady‘s restructured deal, and it seems like Welker and the Patriots will be getting a long-term deal done in the near future. Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports tweeted something a few hours ago that made my day, because what he stated is exactly what I want the Patriots to do.

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Per “a couple of” sources close to Cole, the Patriots “will probably” re-sign Wes Welker and add another wide receiver who has deep seed. I don’t know what that holds for Brandon Lloyd‘s future with the New England Patriots, but it probably isn’t good, especially given that Cole replied to someone who tweeted him by knocking Lloyd’s speed.

A source close to CSNNE stated earlier this week that Lloyd isn’t even in the Patriots 2013 plans, let alone on the team’s depth chart for the upcoming season. “Erratic behavior” was just one of the reasons cited by both the Boston Globe and CSNNE, and I think the big reason why the Patriots would release Lloyd is because they want an upgrade and more of a true No. 1 “X” receiver.

I don’t know if that means they are going to go after a free agent wideout or heavily focus on wide receiver in the draft, although I do have a feeling that it will be the latter. However, I wouldn’t count out Lloyd just yet. The Patriots could still keep Lloyd, Welker, and then add another wideout on the outside who can stretch the field deep with his speed through the draft.

There are a lot of possibilities for the Patriots, but keeping Welker is priority No. 1 at receiver and finding a guy who can stretch the field vertically is priority No. 2. In fact, I would be fine with not picking up Lloyd’s $3 million option (crops up on the 16th of March) if it means that the Patriots will sign a true No. 1 wideout. With the news that some of the top wideouts could be retained (like Dwayne Bowe and Greg Jennings), things are getting murky on that front.

But what is clear to me is that the Patriots are wisely going to do everything possible to keep Welker and add a true deep threat to actually add another dimension to the Pats passing attack downfield.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.