Patriots: revisiting Pats stealing Wes Welker from division-rival Dolphins

Revisiting the Patriots fleecing the Dolphins to acquire wideout Wes Welker.

New England Patriots de facto general manager Bill Belichick hasn’t made a ton of great trades in recent years, but boy, was he a machine at fleecing teams for the majority of the 2000s.

Perhaps no stretch was more impressive than in 2007, when he pulled off deals to acquire wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker within a span of seven days.

Since we recently dove into a recollection of the former’s career in Foxborough and how both teams fared in the trade, it’s only fitting that we do the same for the latter.

In March of 2007, the Patriots acquired Welker, a backup slot receiver at the time, from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a second- and seventh-round draft pick.

In Miami’s defense, Welker was anything but a world-beater in his few seasons with the team, so trading him (at the time) wasn’t an awful decision.

His most productive season came in 2006 when he notched 67 receptions for 687 yards. However, when you consider the perennial stud he morphed into with New England, and what minimal return the Dolphins received from the draft capital they collected, this trade is enough to make fans in Miami want to vomit.

The second- and seventh-round selections ultimately turned into offensive lineman Samson Satele and defensive end Abraham Wright. The former was actually a reliable source of production for the Dolphins as he started all 16 games in consecutive seasons, but he was dealt to the then-Oakland Raiders in 2009. The latter, meanwhile, never played a down in the NFL.

That’s really all the information we need to articulate that the Patriots won this trade, but let’s get crazy and take a closer look at Welker’s tenure in Foxborough, shall we?

Not only did Welker post at least 100 receptions in five of his six seasons in New England, but he seemed to easily eclipse the 1,000-yard mark as well. To call him a pivotal part of the Patriots offense and a favorite target of quarterback Tom Brady would perfectly encapsulate his impact on the team.

New England won two Super Bowls in Welker’s six seasons with the franchise and the only year that the team didn’t win the AFC East crown came in 2008, when Tom Brady underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered in Week 1.

What makes this deal one of the worst in Dolphins history wasn’t because they traded Welker — it’s because they shipped him to a division rival for a minimal return and only bolstered the Patriots’ standing as a Super Bowl contender.