After those Danny Amendola rumors seemed to die down few expected the New England Patriots' extended kiss-off to Wes Welker—in the wake of his unlikely contract extension demands—to again brush against the St. Louis Rams' collection of gently used slot receivers. But Josh McDaniels could not be denied: Saturday the Patriots traded a 2015 pick for Greg Salas, part of his only draft as the Rams' offensive svengali.
↵Salas appeared to find a role with the Rams just as an injury knocked him out for the season, but in 2012, with the benefit of a fully-functional offense behind him, he'll be auditioning for a very well-defined job: Replacement Wes Welker.
↵Welker's contract extension drama is well-reported by now. Having hit his early 30s without a long-term deal, Welker watched Rob Gronkowski and then Aaron Hernandez both get the big contract extension he coveted. Now Josh McDaniels, after a failed attempt, has managed to pry a pseudo-Wes-Welker away from the Rams. Welker's agent can't be happy.