The Pats won’t release Amendola. Why? Because its a short sited move and that’s not how they operate. Sure they save 2,8 mil this year, but next year it adds even more than that to the cap. They could keep Amendola and accomplish the same thing by structuring contracts to pay more next year. Consider that Edelman has played only 1 healthy season. Is it worth dumping Amendola so that you can move about 3 mil from this years cap to next? No way.

Fair points, there’s an element of risk with both players. Really both have only had one healthy season in their careers, though Amendola has probably shown more consistency as a receiver.

I guess in a vacuum I’d prefer Edelman back, but I also think that Amendola should be effective if he stays and Edelman walks, assuming he put together a healthy season. He has to at some point, right?

Ultimately I know the Pats will do what they think is best for the team long term. If that means eating some contract money on Amendola in 2015 because they think Edelman is the better player, I don’t think it will stop them.