Wide receiver Julian Edelman retired recently after 12 years with the New England Patriots, where he won three Super Bowl titles while playing as one of Tom Brady’s trusted receivers. During his stay in New England, Edelman caught 620 passes for 6,822 yards and 36 touchdowns and emerged as Brady’s favorite target, especially during crunch time. After winning Super Bowl LIII, Brady and Edelman played together for one more season, which ended in a Wild Card loss to the Tennessee Titans. After that, Brady signed a two-year deal worth $50 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a 20-year stint and six Super Bowl wins with the Patriots while Edelman remained in New England.
Edelman however was limited to just six games last season after undergoing a knee surgery, while the Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 after finishing with a 7-9 mark. In the offseason, the Patriots released Edelman due to his injury and hours later, the wide receiver announced his retirement from the NFL.
Brady teased Edelman to join Buccaneers
Despite his retirement, Brady teased Edelman several times on social media and during interviews about bringing him to Tampa Bay. But the wide receiver resisted the temptation of joining Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski in Tampa Bay, standing pat in his decision to hang it up for good. During an interview with Boston Red Sox great David Ortiz, the baseball legend asked Edelman if Brady recruited him to Tampa Bay.
“Did you receive a phone call from Tommy, ‘Hey, you wanna join me?” Ortiz asked Edelman, to which he replied “I can neither confirm nor can I deny.” Edelman also said during the interview that he wasn’t planning to join another squad as he is loyal to the Patriots. “Foxborough forever, boys,” Edelman told Ortiz. Brady made a winning return to Foxborough in Week 4 as he led the Buccaneers to a close 19-17 triumph over his former team, the Patriots.
Bucs’ woes in the secondary continue
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians announced some bad news on Wednesday regarding some members of his injury-depleted secondary. During his press conference ahead of their Week 4 clash with the Miami Dolphins, Arians announced that cornerback Carlton Davis will miss significant time after he suffered a quad injury in their win over the Patriots.
According to Luke Easterling of USA Today, Arians reiterated his earlier statement to the media that Davis would be out “a while.” In addition, Arians said cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting is not expected to return anytime soon after suffering a dislocated elbow in Week 1. Another Bucs’ cornerback, Jamel Dean, missed the game against the Patriots due to a knee injury. The Buccaneers recently signed veteran cornerback Richard Sherman, who came up big in their win over the Patriots.
