Julian Edelman reveals how Tom Brady tried to recruit him to the Buccaneers.
Julian Edelman spent the entirety of his 11-year NFL career with the Patriots but revealed Monday that if Tom Brady had his way, at least one of those would spend with him in Tampa Bay.
Edelman, who appeared on the Buccaneers-Giants game’s “Monday Night Football” Manningcast, revealed how his former quarterback “hit me” on his first day with the Buccaneers, asking him, “Do you want to come over?” Edelman’s response?
“Absolutely not.”
The 35-year-old Edelman finally ended his final NFL season in 2020 playing six games and starting one, in New England. He had 21 receptions for 315 yards and no touchdowns, finishing with 620 receptions for 6,822 yards and 36 touchdowns in 137 games. He also has three Super Bowl rings to his name. Meanwhile, Brady won Super Bowl LV as a Buccaneer with former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.
This isn’t the first time Edelman has addressed rumors of meeting Brady in Tampa Bay. After his retirement in April, Brady joked that Edelman simply didn’t know how to tell Patriots coach Bill Belichick that he just wanted to play in Tampa:
“We know Julian didn’t retire. Let’s be honest,” Brady said at the 2021 NFL Draft-A-Thon. “He’s too scared to tell (Patriots coach) Bill (Belichick) he wants to come to Tampa. I’ve ‘been there.”
In response, Edelman joined “The Michael Irvin Podcast” and said he was fine leaving the game after giving it his all:
“My knee is breaking, I’m not going to sit here, you know, I have everything I wanted,” Edelman said. “I got three rings, I played in a magical dynasty, with an amazing franchise coach, the greatest quarterback of all time, like, I’m not a greedy guy. I played to win, I played to compete, I don’t need anything else. to demonstrate. I’m good at what I did, I left everything on the field. “
With that said, Edelman admitted on the Manningcast that he came close to joining another team as a free agent in 2013 – he considered joining Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin on the Giants.
“It was pretty close,” Edelman said. “I went and visited there in Jersey and met with (Tom) Coughlin and I had nothing but respect for the organization … but I looked at my options to go back to the Pats … (and) Peyton, thanks for taking us off ( Wes) Welker from our hands … and the rest is history. You are saying, “Once a giant, always a giant.” Well, ‘almost a giant, always a patriot.’