It's the offseason, so there is a lot of discussion about what the Patriots should do about (fill-in-the-blanks) contract.
Tom Brady needs an extension.
Are they going to make Rob Gronkowski take a pay cut if he returns?
Are Devin McCourty, Dont'a Hightower, Dwayne Allen and Adrian Clayborn worth their hefty cap numbers?
Who's getting paid, Trey Flowers or Trent Brown? Both?
Nobody ever mentions Julian Edelman, the reigning Super Bowl MVP. You know, the guy who basically carried the postseason passing offense this year, just like he did on the way to titles in '14 and '16 (Edelman receptions in those postseasons: 73 in nine games. Every other receiver combined: 76)...
See the correlation?
I get it -- we've all become accustomed to the Patriots never paying slot receivers because, apparently, they grow on trees (Wes Welker can attest to that). The team certainly has a right to feel the way it does when they've had an unbroken run of Troy Brown, Welker, Edelman, Danny Amendola and then back to Edelman.
But, like Welker in his final Patriots days, something doesn't feel right about Edelman's contract.
I understand he'll be 33 in May. And I am also fully aware that he missed the '17 season after tearing his ACL (like he did that surfing and not in a preseason game), and was suspended the first four games this season for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs (which the Patriots got back in cap space).
But I also realize Edelman caught 74 passes in 14 games, which was nearly as much as the next two receivers combined (75, Josh Gordon and Chris Hogan). Edelman also had 26 postseason receptions, and the rest of the receivers combined for 17.
So I don't see any signs of Edelman slowing down past this season, his last under his current contract.
And I also realize that for possibly the first time in the Belichick era, the Patriots have no ready in-house alternatives ready should Edelman decide to withhold his services in search of a larger payday.
Not just at slot. At any receiver positions.
If Edelman decided to press the issue, the Patriots would be looking at Braxton Berrios, Cody Hollister, Darren Andrews and Damoun Patterson as the only receivers currently on the roster for next season (Gordon is suspended).
Do I expect Edelman to press the issue? Of course not. He has demonstrated to the Patriots and everyone else he will take what they give him.
Remember, when the Patriots agreed to a deal with Amendola in '13 and jilted Welker (that's actually the way it went down), Edelman was a complete afterthought and allowed to hit the free-agent market, where he took a visit to the Giants. He eventually returned on a one-year, $765,000 deal and was the passing offense (105 catches, no one else more than 54) after Amendola was hurt early.
This season, Edelman is due to make $3 million in cash under a two-year extension that pays him $5.5 million annually when the signing bonus is prorated.
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That ...
- is not even a raise on what the Patriots offered Welker five years ago.
- is less than what Gronkowski and Dont'a Hightower have earned under their deals. Are they worth 40 percent or more than Edelman?
- is barely more than what Allen, Clayborn and Cordarrelle Patterson are due, and none of them played more than 32.6 percent of snaps last season. Edelman played double that, even when you include his suspension.
- ranks 42nd among NFL receivers and puts him well behind, among others, DeSean Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald, Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, Michael Crabtree and Tavon Austin.
- puts Edelman in the same territory of Amendola, Allen Hurns, Seth Roberts and Torrey Smith.