The Facts: Following up on the ongoing story. ...Welker took to Twitter his feed to make a brief statement on his feelings after having the franchise tag applied to him by New England Monday. Wrote Welker: "Glad that I will be a Patriot in 2012. and hopefully '13,'14,'15,'16,'17,'18.........."

Diehards Line:Welker would be 37 in the 2018 season, but clearly he wants to stick around. As the Globe suggested, given his public -- and positive -- statement, it's tough to think he'll hold out if he does not have a long-term deal in place by the start of training camp. Indeed, we'll go ahead and take him at his word until we have reason to believe otherwise.