Have the Patriots Seen the Last of Ben Watson?

Last week Mike Reiss reported that Patriots TE Ben Watson has recently signed heavyweight Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, perhaps signifying his intent to aggressively market himself around the league.

Rosenhaus is widely known as an unrelenting and vicious negotiator, one who has proclaimed himself "The Most Ruthless Agent in Sports."  He represents several famous clients, including players such as Anquan Boldin, Lance Briggs, Tommie Harris (are we seeing a theme here?), Terrell Owens, Clinton Portis, and Warren Sapp when he played. (I'll give you a hint: These guys get paid; that's the recurring theme.)

Any player signing Rosenhaus as an agent definitely has intimidation in mind at the very least.

Watson may be slightly disgruntled at his lack of use in the Patriot offense, however.  He's definitely a guy who has great skills, with great speed for a TE and reliable hands.  He's got a great deal of playoff experience, including championship games and clutch plays made, and he's certainly an attractive free agent in this year's market to many teams.  

This past season it seemed to me as if Watson was almost completely ignored throughout most of the year in the Patriots offense.  I don't know if Brady wasn't completely comfortable reading too much past his first two reads (Moss and Welker) or what the story was, but he didn't go Watson's way many times, that I know.

When he did go Watson's way, however, Watson came through. One time that comes to mind immediately would be the two TD grabs in Week One vs. Buffalo to keep New England in the game and help the Patriots eek out a win over the normally hapless Bills.

Watson certainly has a lot to offer teams, and I think it's unfortunate that the Patriots are apparently going to let him bring his talents elsewhere.  With so many questions regarding our receivers, it would seem to be a bright idea to hang onto a receiving tight end who has been a part of your system for six seasons.

Watson, I think, could be a reliable receiving option, particularly on straight routes down the seam.  Particularly with guys like Edelman and Welker, the ability to send a fast TE 30 yards down the seam, bringing a safety or two with him, is a great option to have. Letting him go might be a huge mistake.

Another reason letting Watson go might be a huge mistake, particularly now that he's signed Rosenhaus as an agent, is Rosenhaus's familiarity with rival team the Miami Dolphins.

An unofficial list I'm looking at, a collection of his clients' names dated in 2005, puts 12 of his clients on the Miami Dolphins roster at that point in time.  Now again, that's very much an unofficial list, but even if the writer of that list is off by one or two names, that's a serious history of negotiating with Miami.

Now, in 2005 Parcells wasn't a part of Miami quite yet, but the thought of Watson bringing his game to the Dolphins and their budding QB Chad Henne bothers me a bit.

One thing's for sure: No matter where Watson lands for the 2010 season and beyond, if it's not in a Patriots uniform, he'll be missed in Foxboro by fans and players alike.