Unlike Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman finished his NFL career having played for only one NFL team: the New England Patriots. That arose during the first episode of Edelman and Gronkowski’s “Dudes on Dudes” podcast.
The tight end gave Edelman a decent amount of ribbing during his debut when he mentioned how Edelman didn’t follow Brady and Gronkowski to Tampa after winning three Super Bowls together. Edelman had a pretty understandable answer: He was under contract, specifically a two-year, $18 million deal that ran through 2021.
Gronkowski still insisted that Edelman could have enjoyed a longer career if he had gone to Tampa and played with Brady and then Baker Mayfield, but Edelman firmly said he had to go with SS Bill Belichick.
The full exchange:
Gronkowski: “I know Tom called you and said, ‘Hey Jules, do you want to come to the Buccaneers?’ And you said, ‘No, I’m a patriot for life.’
Edelman: “I was under contract, Rob.”
Gronkowski: “This is a career revival, which would have been a career revival for you, Jules. If you went down, you’d probably still be playing with this guy if you went to the Bucs.”
Edelman: “I had to go down with the ship, man. I had to go down with the damn ship. Have you seen ‘Titanic’? Do you know the old captain? Do you know the guy with the violin?”
All in all, this is as serious an exchange as you’d expect from a Rob Gronkowski podcast. Not only does Gronkowski ignore that Edelman is legally obligated to play for the Patriots (although perhaps he could have hoped for a trade), Gronkowski also leaves out that Edelman, now 38, retired amid chronic knee problems. Mayfield probably wouldn’t have fixed that.
Edelman was also adamant about his commitment to the Patriots at the time, saying he’s a “one-team guy” when rumors started spreading again. That didn’t stop Brady from joking that Edelman only stayed because he was afraid of Belichick.