Julian Edelman Reveals He Nearly Left Patriots For This Team

Julian Edelman spent his entire 12-year NFL career in New England and became a franchise legend by helping the Patriots win three Super Bowl championships.

But had the former wide receiver made a different decision early in his playing tenure, his incredible run in Foxboro, Mass., would've never happened.

Josh McDaniels was a recent guest on Edelman's "Games with Names" podcast and recalled the "sleepiness nights" he had in March 2014 when the 2009 seventh-round pick was "moonlighting in free agency." While Edelman ended up staying in Tom Brady's arsenal, he did take a meeting with another storied franchise.

"I went to the Niners," Edelman told McDaniels. "Niners offered me more money than I signed for. Me and (Jim) Harbaugh were talking numbers. Harbaugh's fighting with the GM. It's publicly known. He's over here asking, 'How much do you want? We'll get it done.'"

Edelman made a sound decision, as San Francisco floundered after Harbaugh's exit and posted a combined 25-55 record between the 2014-2018 campaigns with zero playoff appearances. The Patriots, meanwhile, reached the Super Bowl in all but one of those five seasons and Edelman earned MVP honors in Super Bowl LIII.

The 38-year-old has been out of the game for a few years now, but he probably still is bound for at least one more significant honor. Edelman built a case for himself to join other Patriots icons in the team's Hall of Fame.