NEW YORK -- Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker said Tuesday he didn't have a problem receiving the team's franchise tag and that he was "excited" to return to New England for another season.
Welker made his comments after modeling the NFL's new Nike uniforms, along with 31 other NFL players.
Welker, who led the NFL with 122 catches last season and was second with 1,569 yards receiving, will be guaranteed $9.5 million in 2012 if he signs the tender.
"I'm just excited to be back with the Patriots, and excited to know I'm going to be here this next year, and looking forward to the season," Welker said.
Asked if he was OK with the franchise tag, Welker said, "Yeah, for sure. It will be half of what I made my whole contract this past (time) around. Not too bad."
When asked if there was any progress on the contract front, Welker responded, "Not that I know of. The only progress that I know of is the same, as far as the franchise tag."
Welker was then asked if that was disappointing to him.
"Not really," he answered. "That's a lot of money, so I'm definitely kind of excited about it."
In terms of his plans to sign the tender, Welker added he wasn't sure about the timing of it.
"I think we'll kind of see how things go," he said.
Other receivers around the NFL struck it big in free agency, and Welker was asked his thoughts on that.
"Definitely excitement," he said. "I think it kind of solidified what I thought was in my head. It kind of put out there my worth, I guess."
ESPNNewYork.com's Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report