Patriots rumors: Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd gone?

The New England Patriots have several options when it comes to tackling their offseason, but one route could have them allowing Wes Welker to walk and also parting ways with Brandon Lloyd, according to Greg A. Bedard of The Boston Globe. Bedard believes cutting ties with its veteran wide outs represents the best option for the Patriots. Welker is set to become an unrestricted free agent, so New England would simply have to not pursue him. When it comes to Lloyd, they would have to decline his $3 million roster bonus, which would result in him hitting the open market. Lloyd caught 71 passes for 911 yards and four touchdowns last season, while Welker turned in another spectacular campaign; 118 receptions, 1,354 yards and six touchdowns. However, both players will be 32 by the time next season rolls around, and the Patriots have never shown a commitment to keep veterans, especially wide receivers, around long-term. Follow @TheNFLInjuryRpt !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="http://www.thenflinjuryreport.com//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-34100676-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();