Tom Brady: Not Surprised Wes Welker Left Patriots

Tom Brady said he wasn’t surprised to see friend and favorite target Wes Welker bolt the New England Patriots this offseason.

Though Brady and Welker were close, and Tom even took a pay cut to free up cap space so the team could sign players like Welker, Brady said it’s just the nature of the business.

“I don’t think anything surprises me anymore in the NFL,” Brady he said on the Dennis Callahan Show on WEEI sports radio in Boston. “I’ve been around long enough to see things happen at different times with the greatest players of all, whether that’s Wes or Randy Moss being traded by the Raiders or Brett Favre and playing for the Jets and Vikings.”

Welker signed with the Denver Broncos in a two year deal is worth $12 million, adding another target for quarterback Peyton Manning. Last year Wes Welker caught 118 passes for 1,354 yards, the second highest total of his career. Two years ago Welker notched 1,569 yards.

Even though Welker is gone, Brady said the two will remain good friends.

“That’s what happens. This is a, like I said, it’s a very tough, competitive business, and nobody appreciated Wes more than I did and what he was able to accomplish for our team. He’s moved on; he’s in a good situation with another great team and a great quarterback. We always kind of kept in touch, we always will. He’s one of my best friends.”

But it wasn’t always so easy to accept the harsher side of the football business, Brady added:

“Of course I have feelings, but those feelings are very personal to me. I used to get caught up in angry and disappointment, but I don’t make the decisions. These things aren’t up to me. At some point you’ve got to realize the things that are out of your control, you’ve just got to let go, focus on my job and what I need to do. The game moves on, the team moves on, there’s only so long you can dwell on the past, and at some point you’ve got to move forward.”

Tom Brady and Wes Welker will get a chance to reunite on the field this season. The Patriots fave the Broncos on November 24.