Julian Edelman has been extremely back-and-forth when it comes to conversations about a potential return to the NFL.
The 36-year-old retired ahead of last season with the New England Patriots and he was adamant on the fact that he was done. Rumors came out almost monthly about him joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski ventured out. Edelman laughed off the rumors and constantly said he was a Patriot for life, while reiterating that he’s staying away from the field.
Last month, Edelman said “you never” know about a comeback to the NFL and he opened the door for conversation. He did say that if he made a return, it would “probably be with the Patriots.”
On the I AM ATHLETE podcast, Edelman was asked about where he was at with the idea.
“The amount of work I have to put into my body to train, to make me confident — like, that’s so much for the output because of the injuries, my knees, this, that. I’m not getting the same output,” Edelman said, transcribed by NESN. “So now that I’ve taken a year off and I’m not loading my body, compounding loads every single day, my body feels pretty straight, you know? I’ve gone and dabbled out and you go run routes. But then, you see when you run routes, the next day, like, all right, I’m not too bad, but I’m already like 10,000 reps behind I feel in my mind.”
When asked about coming back to the NFL, Julian @Edelman11 admits during the @IAMATHLETEpod that after taking a year off football his knee feels better than when he retired.
"Now that I've taken a year off, my body feels pretty straight." pic.twitter.com/Or3bFt1hEM
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 27, 2022
The Patriots have a deep receiving corps and Edelman is doing just fine with his post-NFL career. He likely won’t make a return, but never say never.
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