Most good QBs have a "safety valve". Dallas Clark/Brandon Stokely ring any bells?
Yeah, sure. The funny thing is that Welker's number of receptions are insanely high for one guy - because he gets open and Brady targets him since Brady doesn't want to make plays down the field (I argue its because he doesn't have the skill to make those plays).
You keep calling him a "safety valve" which makes me think you don't know how football works.
I'm not going to launch into a debate over semantics involving the technical meaning of football terms. The idea is that Welker got open and gave Brady an option he often needed, and without that option Brady wouldn't look so "great" after all.
Your assumption that this Welker/Amendola guy is also always so wide open for Brady is also false. You watch every Pats game, you know that's not true.
No one is always open. Still, the numbers don't lie, and they say Brady threw the ball to Welker a great deal (look at his reception totals). If the Pats can't find someone to get open at least close to as often as Welker did, Brady will struggle, and I'll be glad when he does.