Despite the fact that the Patriots are only a few days removed from the Super Bowl, they already have a laundry list of things to address in the coming months. Here are 10 points of emphasis for the franchise: Wes Welker: The wide receiver is the No. 1 priority this offseason, and while the franchise tag remains a possibility (a cost of roughly $9 million), you would have to think that Welker’s camp would love to lock down a multiyear agreement, something in the three to four-year range. Many people around the league believe that unless some team offers him a ridiculous deal, Welker will ultimately return, as he is more valuable in the New England offense than anywhere else. Welker’s reps als understand how good he has it with the Patriots. (One important thing to remember -- Welker changed agents to David Dunn and Athletes First in 2009, a group that represents other Patriots like Aaron Hernandez and Zoltan Mesko, and historically has had a good working relationship with New

Less than 24 hours after a final Hail Mary attempt came up short at the end of Super Bowl XLVI, the Patriots opened the offseason with a series of goodbyes at Gillette Stadium. Gathering as a group, they cleaned out their lockers and got a jump on the offseason. Meanwhile, with the season now fully in the rearview mirror, coach Bill Belichick tried to put the 2011 campaign into some sort of perspective. After more than six months, just over 100 practices, four preseason games, 16 regular season games and three postseason games, the Patriots fell just shy of winning it all. “[I’m] real proud of them. I thought they worked hard all year, they competed well all season,” Belichick said. “We won a lot of games and even the ones we didn’t win, we fought right to the end and played very competitively. “We did that [Sunday] night, just came up a little bit short,” he added. “I have all the respect in the world for the team and all the players and

INDIANAPOLIS -- Late Sunday night, deep in the bowels of Lucas Oil Stadium, Wes Welker stared straight ahead, glassy-eyed and quiet. Above him, a television monitor had shots of happy Giants, laughing and dancing amid a confetti-saturation celebration. On the other side of the massive interview room, you could hear laughing and happiness and celebrating from players in white uniforms being led in and out of the interview area. Meanwhile, the wide receiver, who had been such an utterly reliable presence for the Patriots’ passing game over the last five years, remained silent. Less than an hour before, he had dropped a pass -- frankly, it remains debatable if it was a drop or a poorly thrown ball by quarterback Tom Brady -- during a key stretch of Super Bowl XLVI against the Giants. If he had caught the ball, there was the very real likelihood that the Patriots would have picked up the first down and been able to run out the season on New York. The Patriots were holding on to a 17-15

INDIANAPOLIS -- Here are 46 things we’ll be keeping an eye on in Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI between the Patriots and the Giants. 1. The coin toss: The Patriots have either deferred or lost the toss on a fairly consistent basis over the last four years. According to ESPN, including playoff games, New England has chosen to defer the last 29 times it has won the opening coin toss. The last (and only) time New England chose to receive the opening kick since the rule change was Week 1 in 2008 against the Chiefs -- the game Tom Brady suffered a knee injury and missed the rest of the season. (ESPN also notes that from Week 1 of 2008 to Week 13 of 2011, the Giants chose to receive on every opening coin toss they won. That’s 30 straight regular-season and playoff games in which they chose to receive.) Presuming the Patriots either lose or defer, that sets them up for one of their traditional moves -- putting themselves in scoring position at the end of the first half and getting