New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said Thursday morning that Wes Welker's free-agent departure to the Denver Broncos did not come as a surprise, as he's played in the NFL long enough to understand the nature of the business.

"I don't think anything surprises me anymore in the NFL," he said on the "Dennis & Callahan Show" on WEEI sports radio in Boston. "I've been around long enough to see things happen at different times with the greatest players of all, whether that's Wes or Randy Moss being traded by the Raiders or Brett Favre and playing for the Jets and Vikings.

"That's what happens. This is a, like I said, it's a very tough, competitive business, and nobody appreciated Wes more than I did and what he was able to accomplish for our team. He's moved on; he's in a good situation with another great team and a great quarterback. We always kind of kept in touch, we always will. He's one of my best friends."

Brady has long been outspoken about his appreciation for Welker, who totaled more receptions than any other player during the past six seasons in the NFL. Although Brady and Welker shared a close connection, the 35-year-old quarterback wouldn't classify his feelings over Welker joining the Broncos as anger or disappointment.

"Of course I have feelings, but those feelings are very personal to me," he said. "I used to get caught up in angry and disappointment, but I don't make the decisions. These things aren't up to me. At some point you've got to realize the things that are out of your control, you've just got to let go, focus on my job and what I need to do. The game moves on, the team moves on, there's only so long you can dwell on the past, and at some point you've got to move forward.

"Like I said, my job for my team is to be the best quarterback and not the general manager, not the coach and not the owner," Brady added. "It's to try to go out there and bring my own competitiveness to the field so that those guys that I'm playing with this year can rely on me and count on me to be the best I can be."

Before the start of free agency, Brady agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2017 that created more than $15 million in cap space during the next two league years. When asked if the extension was motivated in part to create financial flexibility to ensure that Welker was re-signed, Brady rebuffed that he made such a request.

"Those aren't my demands," he replied. "I want us to field as competitive a team as we can. And I have all the trust in the world that Mr. Kraft and Jonathan [Kraft] and Coach Belichick do that. There's nothing about me, I don't say that, I'm not general manger. I can't say, 'I do this, you do this.' That's what my decision was. It was kind of a value proposition for me and wanting to be in this system with Coach Belichick and the other players that I've been able to play with.