Talk and speculation about Danny Amendola in New England has quieted down after the St. Louis Rams wide receiver set the rumor mill on fire with a visit to Boston. The Rams are not out of the woods yet, as far as the Patriots, or any other interested team, making the restricted free agent an offer.
Related: A look at some other receivers who could be trade targets for the Rams, via our YouTube channel, which you should subscribe to.
The latest on the Danny Amendola trade talk after the jump.
Teams have until April 20 to make offers on restricted agents. Yes, 4/20 is the deadline; the coincidence is not lost on us. Per the rules of restricted free agency, a team has the right to match another offer or let that player walk for draft pick compensation commesurate with the player's RFA tender, a second rounder in the case of Danny Amendola.
The chances of the Patriots losing Wes Welker now look to have dwindled to almost nothing. No surprise there. He is expected to sign his franchise offer, according to Jason Cole of Yahoo. That takes away some incentive for bringing in Amendola, but not all of it.
Welker, who turns 31 in May, may not be in the Pats' long-term plans, hence the speculation about Amendola, the poor man's Wes Welker. In a recent article from Evan Silva at Rotoworld, he listed Amendola as a potential trade candidate.
The Rams would seem well-prepared to let Amendola walk. They have no shortage of slot receivers, though none with the established mind-meld with Sam Bradford. Recently acquired Steve Smith can work the slot an split out wide, if healthy, and Greg Salas showed some acumen in limited replacement duty for Amendola.
Ultimately, this is unlikely to happen, given the Rams lack of experienced producers and the need to ease Sam Bradford's development.
April is likely to be a busy month for trades in the NFL, not to mention the moves that will happen during the 2012 NFL Draft.