The new bit of intrigue involving the Wes Welker/Danny Amendola saga hitting Twitter shelves is that the New England Patriots actually signed WR Danny Amendola on Tuesday--a full day prior to Wes Welker inking with the Denver Broncos.

In yesterday's wake, it was assumed that the Danny Amendola signing was somewhat reactionary on the Patriots' part. Amendola would project as a serviceable replacement for Wes Welker in the slot, but only if the preferred Welker ended up refusing New England's offer and chose to head elsewhere. Evidently, it wasn't in the Patriots plans to wait that long:

The #Patriots actually signed Danny Amendola before @weswelker made his decision. ow.ly/iW99s

— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) March 14, 2013

After Wes Welker opted to explore free agency, it appeared both sides were resigned to the fact that they wouldn't see eye-to-eye financially. The Patriots were more than willing to hold their bottom line and let Welker seek what he and his agent fully expected to be a better deal in the open market. When Welker came back to allow the Patriots to match a surprisingly low offer presented by the Broncos, it was at that point too late. The plan was already sneakily executed, and Danny Amendola was a Patriot long before Welker ever signed the dotted line.

Like a rocky relationship with no signs of improving, the jilted party left to search for greener pastures. When they weren't as verdant as initially thought, the party returns only to find their supposed mainstay has also taken that time to move on to bigger and better things. The new flame will be incredibly exciting and novel for a time; 'after all, just look at the lack of dropped passes, dynamic speed and young, reckless abandon at which he plays!'

The Patriots, however, have to hope that their new bedfellow proves to be half as reliable as their old one.