Patriots made awesome gesture to help Julian Edelman before his retirement
By Jerry Trotta
When a report dropped last week indicating that Julian Edelman would likely struggle to play through the entirety of the 2021 season due to his nagging knee injury, Patriots fans kind of got the feeling that a corresponding move was imminent.
Just a few days later, New England terminated his contract as a result of a failed physical, marking the end of his 12-year run with the organization.
As it turns out, however, that decision was just a prelude to a much bigger announcement: Edelman’s retirement.
The Patriots deciding to release Edelman was probably viewed as a puzzling move among fans, and understandably so. Couldn’t he have just called it a career without one lasting reminder of why he felt forced to walk away from the game?
Well, it would appear the Patriots decided to give their longtime wide receiver a parting gift before his retirement.
According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, being released will actually afford Edelman the opportunity to bank $2 million through the league’s injury protection benefit.
By having his contract terminated for a failed physical today, former Patriots' WR Julian Edelman now becomes eligible for injury protection benefit, per the CBA, available to all players in this situation. Edelman can collect up to $2 million through this benefit.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 12, 2021
The Patriots seemingly helped Julian Edelman retire on a positive note.
The NFL’s injury protection benefit is fairly self-explanatory. In a vacuum, Edelman essentially qualifies because he was injured in one season and was presumably unable to play the following campaign, like the previously mentioned report hinted at.
The former seventh-rounder also had one year remaining on his current deal, meaning he’s able to collect 100% of his base salary (up to $2 million) for the subsequent season. Since Edelman was slated to collect $2.8 million in 2021, he’s entitled to receive the entire $2 million of the injury protection benefit.
Julian Edelman when he gets to Buccaneers facility pic.twitter.com/zndqj9XtSC
— #RingerNFL (@ringernfl) April 12, 2021
Had the three-time champ’s contract not been terminated, Edelman would have disclosed his intentions to retire and walked away with nothing, all the while the organization owned the rights to the final year of his deal if he decided to spurn retirement.
The Patriots, being the class act that they are, seemingly couldn’t have that on their conscience and decided to help him ride off into the sunset, albeit in lesser fashion since they didn’t win a championship in 2020, but you get the point.
With this gesture, the Patriots can not only collect the cap space Edelman left in his wake, but they can also sleep at night knowing they helped him receive one final paycheck on his way out the door ($2 million is nothing to sniff at for his age) by exploiting a loophole in the NFL’s handbook.
If you ask us, that’s a pretty awesome way to go out.
