Despite Julian Edelman announcing his retirement last month, rumors will continue to persist about a potential reunion with Tom Brady. This theory has always seemed unlikely, but it certainly isn’t impossible. After all, Brady managed to coax Rob Gronkowski out of retirement to join Tampa Bay, and he also recruited Antonio Brown despite the team already having Chris Godwin and Mike Evans on the roster.
So, would anyone really be shocked if Edelman ultimately joined the Buccaneers? Probably not. However, the long-time Patriots receiver did his best to quiet the rumblings during a recent appearance on the Michael Irvin Podcast, stating that he’s a “one-team guy.”
“My knees breaking down, I’m not gonna sit here, you know, I got everything I wanted,” Edelman explained (via NFL.com’s Nick Shook). “I got three rings, played in a magical dynasty, with an unbelievable franchise coach, best quarterback of all time, like, yo, I’m not a greedy guy. I played to win, I played to compete, I don’t need anything else to prove. I’m good with what I did, I left it all out on the field.”
Edelman was limited to only six games this past season as he dealt with a knee injury, so a potential return would obviously hang on the wideout’s health. Plus, as the 34-year-old noted, there’s not much more he can do to add to his resume; Edelman won three rings and a Super Bowl MVP, and he ranks second all-time in receiving yards and receptions. Assuming his career has come to an end, the former seventh-round pick finished his career with 36 regular-season touchdowns, all via Brady. The future Hall of Famer quarterback has tossed 581 touchdowns during his career, with Edelman ranking third among Brady’s all-time touchdown connections (behind Gronkowski and Randy Moss).
Considering those accolades, will Edelman eventually find him in the Hall of Fame? That’s not a concern to the retired receiver, who noted he’s focused on his new gig as a member of Inside the NFL.
“I’m not here to make a case, man,” Edelman said. “I didn’t play the game to be in the Hall. … It’s an honor to even be mentioned. You know and if something happens, something happens, you know I’m not gonna be worrying about that, I’mma be worrying about my new job here on Inside the NFL.”
The Bucs have zero fit for Edelman. Scotty Miller’s development is much more important than bringing in another buddy for Tom.
You’re not wrong, but let’s be real here. At the end of the day, If Brady wants Edelman and Edelman wants to play, the Bucc’s are signing him. Brady would get his man, just like he did with AB despite all the reasons they had to be concerned about bringing him in. Everything else is irrelevant.
Agreed. Scotty is Tom’s new buddy anyway. I actually think he could end up out snapping AB this season. I was hoping AB wouldn’t be brought back so that we could get Scotty and Tyler more targets and use AB’s money on some 5-tech depth.
Great career!
How much hoaxing did it take to talk gronk out of retirement? My guess is very little. He had nothing else going for him
Pretty sure the word you were looking for was “coaxing”.
I have no clue where Ben got the stats that Edelman “second all-time in receiving yards and receptions”. He’s not even second all-time for the Patriots in those categories.
He’s referring to career Super Bowl stats.
Even then, go look at career super bowl stats. Still not correct. Julian is like 4th and 5th on those records.
He’s referring to post season stats. Not regular season, not SB. All playoff games