Julian Edelman teases NFL comeback, shows love to Patriots return
By Adam Weinrib
When the Patriots lost Julian Edelman following the 2020 season to retirement — after losing him midway through that campaign to nagging injuries — they lost the smallest, gutsiest chunk of their impressive dynastic engine.
Tom Brady’s departure stole headlines, of course, but there’s a reason people have been asking Edelman for nearly two full years about whether or not he’d like to join Brady and Rob Gronkowski in Florida. Edelman’s small-but-mighty frame earned him a Super Bowl MVP and several outstanding games along the road to three championships in the 2010s, and though injury troubles overwhelmed his ending, he had plenty left in the tank in 2019 (a career-high 1,117 receiving yards).
So … was this really the end? Will Edelman go out on top like David Ortiz or tempt history like TB12? According to the wideout this week at a sports media festival in Croatia (of course, yeah, WHY?!), he’s still staying in shape and at least entertaining the idea of a return to the game someday.
And where would he go? Sunny Tampa, or … ?
The Patriots were the only team he mentioned — nothing definitive, but…
Julian Edelman on returning from retirement: ‘We’re staying in shape but you never know’ https://t.co/N7Smm0Tfd5
— Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis) June 15, 2022
Patriots WR Julian Edelman planning NFL comeback?
From Edelman’s mouth to your eyes, here was his take on the comeback question:
"“I don’t know, we’ll see,” Edelman said of returning to the NFL to play with Brady, via WEEI. “That’s called a little teaser. We’ll see. We’re staying in shape but you never know.”"
And, regarding the Patriots namedrop…
"“…I’d probably go back to the Patriots. I love the Patriots. Foxborough Forever,” Edelman said."
Again, nothing declarative. He’s not heading to minicamp to mix with Jakobi Meyers. He didn’t even drop anything stronger than “probably”. But … this qualifies as a nugget. A little offseason spice. Something for the fine folks in Croatia to consider.
Julian Edelman return? 👀
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) June 15, 2022
During an event over the weekend, the WR was asked if he'd return to the NFL and said, "I don't know, we'll see. … We're staying in shape but you never know." per @jennalemoncelli
If he did return, Edelman said he'd "probably go back to the Patriots." pic.twitter.com/0lWQPwUwMg
We’d be willing to say that Bill Belichick would also “probably” be down to welcome back an offensive captain and direct link to the Dynasty years for Mac Jones and a new generation.
Probably.
