Tom Brady left the Patriots for the Buccaneers in NFL free agency. That doesn't suddenly mean his longtime go-to wide receiver, Julian Edelman, should soon be following him out of New England.
Tampa Bay created the early steam for Edelman rumors because of Brady going there. Now, Detroit is the latest rumored destination mentioned for Edelman by The Ringer's Bill Simmons during his guest spot on Fox Sports' "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" on Wednesday.
Bill Simmons on the Colin Cowherd show today suggested Julian Edelman to the Lions could be happening soon. Here’s the audio. Around the 8-minute mark https://t.co/ChB3kQ2dDM
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) April 2, 2020
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Other than the fact the Bucs employ Brady and the Lions are led by two men who spent a lot of time in the Patriots organization — general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia — moving Edelman to another team makes no sense.
The Bucs already have a dominant wide receiver who spends half of his snaps in the slot in rising superstar Chris Godwin. What they really need is a Breshad Perriman replacement to play off Godwin and opposite Mike Evans in 11 personnel sets. Tampa also has a developing diminutive dasher in the Edelman mold in second-year receiver Scotty Miller.
As for the Lions, they were pleased with the play of former Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola last season, enough to re-sign him to a one-year, $5.5 million deal to keep being productive in the slot between Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. There's no room for Edelman to be a receiving factor in that offense, especially considering second-year tight end T.J. Hockenson should have a more prominent role.
The Patriots also can't afford to move Edelman. They have less than $900,000 in salary cap space, second-lowest in the league behind the Chiefs. Trading Edelman would cost them $5.3 million of his $9.6 cap number in dead money.
Besides, they need Edelman themselves, much more than the Bucs and Lions do. The 33-year-old, signed through 2021, caught 100 of 153 targets for a career-high 1,107 receiving yards with six touchdowns last season. The Patriots had all kinds of issues elsewhere at wide receiver in 2019, and in the wake of tight end Rob Gronkowski's retirement, Edelman was one of two reliable targets for Brady from wire to wire, along with running back James White.
As the ultimate possession receiver who gets open everywhere with a consistently high catch rate, Edelman is key to helping the Patriots' new starting QB, which is looking more like either second-year player Jarrett Stidham or a drafted rookie with only Brian Hoyer re-signed to replace Brady on the roster. It stands to reason that Edelman takes on a bigger role as a safety valve, not a lesser one.
Edelman has been attached to Brady his entire 11-year career with the Patriots, so it might be convenient to think it should be his time to move on, too. The reality is, in what will already be a trying transition without Brady, undergoing it without Edelman would be a lot more difficult.
