Ben Watson buried the hatchet in return to Patriots

FOXBORO – They say time heals all wounds.

If that weren’t true for Ben Watson, he probably wouldn’t be in New England right now.

A Patriots' 2004 first-round pick, the tight end’s first venture into free agency resulted in a rude awakening. During that 2010 offseason, Watson had offers from the Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks. He was hoping to hear from the Patriots. Instead, they didn’t offer him a second contract.

Watson [...]

FOXBORO – They say time heals all wounds.

If that weren’t true for Ben Watson, he probably wouldn’t be in New England right now.

A Patriots' 2004 first-round pick, the tight end’s first venture into free agency resulted in a rude awakening. During that 2010 offseason, Watson had offers from the Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks. He was hoping to hear from the Patriots. Instead, they didn’t offer him a second contract.

Watson left New England with some disappointment. That started a journey that’s taken him to Cleveland, New Orleans, Baltimore and back to New Orleans. Nine years after departing Massachusetts, Watson has returned, inking a one-year, $3 million deal with the Patriots this offseason.

This week, Watson admitted that it took time for him to get over the way his tenure in Foxboro ended. After briefly retiring, however, this 38-year-old is happy to be back where his NFL career started.

“When I left here in 2009, it was time for me to go. I was a free agent. The team didn't really make a play for me to come back,” Watson said. “It was time for me to move on, and that was part of my path. My path was for me to go to Cleveland for three years and then go to New Orleans and such. Over time, you realize that's part of the business. And you have to be able to forgive when there's a wrong being done. You also have to realize that people change. You change, other people change, and you consider each situation on its own merits.”

After the Saints' season ended, Watson didn’t think he’d make it to his 16th NFL season, and so he retired. For two months, Watson didn’t just think about life after football – he lived it. He explored other avenues with the hope of landing a "real job." For a while, it looked like he’d land in sports media working in broadcasting and said he had several opportunities. Watson also had opportunities to work within football - one prospect was joining another team and working in either player engagement or player development.

Watson did so much homework on his next step that he’ll be comfortable when he finally hangs up his cleats. During that period of self-reflection, however, Watson started to wonder if playing one more year was possible. That thought trickled in around the end of April and he talked with his wife and kids about returning.

“I started to think, 'Maybe, let's just see if there's an opportunity to play one more year,’ Watson said. “Once you're done, you're done. Maybe there's an opportunity to do one more. And I said I really didn't want to go to the West Coast. I didn't want to go anywhere crazy. I wanted to go somewhere I knew people, somewhere I felt my family would excel and do well. I would have loved to stay in New Orleans or come somewhere in New England where I knew people.”

As fate would have it, the Patriots were in desperate need of a veteran tight end. Following the retirement of Rob Gronkowski, the Pats added Matt LaCosse and Austin Seferian-Jenkins, but both players represent wildcards. With Watson, you know what you’re getting. He’s an active blocker in the run game with solid hands. Last year, at age 37, he caught 35 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns.

When the Patriots reached out, Watson decided to bury his past feelings and move on to a place that he left with mixed emotions nearly a decade ago.

“And so that's what it was coming here, having conversations with Josh (McDaniels) and with Bill (Belihcick) and seeing some of the guys who we were here 10 years ago together. And you realize 'what is this year going to be like?' Forget about how we left. 'What is this year going to be like?'” Watson said. “So, I think for every player leaving, you realize, you go other places, you see the stuff that's good, stuff that's bad and sometimes you realize that, you know what, if there's an opportunity to go back to that one place, I'll do it.”