Besides signing Adalius Thomas, a huge upgrade at their declining linebacker position, the Patriots basically scared the Dolphins into trading returner/receiver Wes Welker to them for a second and seventh-round pick last night. Welker will become the Patriots' younger version of Troy Brown (36 vs. 26), plus the Patriots believe he could learn all three receiver positions in their offense. Welker may not be Deion Branch, but Coach Bill Belichick wants to give it a shot.

The Patriots were prepared to off Welker such a contract that Miami could have matched, but the bad part was that his salary-cap number for this season might have been as high as $9 million. That was the poison pill part of the contract that New England was prepared to write. Interesting, the salary-cap number for Thomas is only $3.9 million in 2007.

Anyway, the Pats got the player they wanted without resorting to such tactics, plus they took a valuable player away from a division rival. That's always a smart thing to do.