Wes Welker Says He’s Not Upset at Rob Gronkowski’s Contract, Is ‘Pulling for’ Teammate

After third-year tight end Rob Gronkowski reeled in a long-term offer just weeks after veteran receiver Wes Welker reported to camp despite not having a deal of his own, no one would blame Welker for being bitter.

But at Patriots minicamp on Tuesday, Welker had no sour grapes for his teammate and insisted he was not upset.

"No, not at all," Welker said, according to ESPN. "I'm always pulling for the players. Especially a guy like Gronk, who does such a great job for us and works hard and deserves every bit of that contract."

Gronkowski is due $54 million over nine years after his rookie deal is up. Welker will get $9.5 million under the franchise tag this year but has no long-term deal in place.

"I'm not worried about that at all," Welker said. "Right now, I'm here, I'm happy. I'm just here and try to help our team win in 2012."

He said he doesn't want the contract to be a distraction, and that he's not building any expectations for a deal to get done before a July 16 deadline for franchise tag renegotiations, according to ESPN.