Julian Edelman Feeling ‘Extremely Better,’ Not Ruling Out NFL Return

Tom Brady retired from the NFL, then returned. So did Rob Gronkowski. Could another former New England Patriots star follow suit?

Julian Edelman isn’t ruling it out.

During an appearance this week on ex-Patriots teammate Chris Long’s “Green Light” podcast, Edelman said he’s been working out and feels “extremely better” than he did at the tail end of his playing career, which was cut short by lingering knee injuries.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” the 36-year-old receiver replied when Long asked about a potential comeback. “People don’t realize it’s not like, especially when you’re older, you can’t just work out for a week, take a Gatorade shake, take a conditioning test and get ready for (expletive) 18 weeks of football. It’s a huge mind commitment, and you can’t dip your toe in. You’ve got to dive into that thing.

“I’m doing things where I’m in the beginning stage of, like, an offseason-ish, just kind of feeling out my body and feeling out my legs. I’ve had some downtime. My body feels good. There’s some deficiencies here and there, but I feel extremely better than I did the last year-and-a-half of my career. I don’t know if it’s fool’s gold just because I haven’t been compounding loadage.

“That’s why you get interested, so you kick it up a little bit here and there and you analyze. You don’t make decisions. And that’s what I’m doing.”

Edelman said in June that he’d “probably” rejoin the Patriots if he chose to resume his NFL career. But the prospect of one last ride with Brady in Tampa Bay has to be alluring, as well.

The three-time Super Bowl champion played all 12 of his seasons in New England, trailing only Wes Welker on the franchise’s all-time receptions list. Edelman retired after injuries limited him to just six games during the 2020 campaign.