I thought that Julian Edelman should have been higher on the Patriots’ off-season to do list than Aqib Talib. Talib is an overrated player who can’t stay healthy and was sure to be overpaid on the open market. A cornerback trio of Alfonzo Dennard, Logan Ryan, and Kyle Arrington would have been passable (though the signings of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner certainly help), while a Patriots’ receiving corps without Julian Edelman would have been a huge question mark.
Brady said it himself after the end of last season that Edelman was his only reliable target last year. They couldn’t let him get away. Edelman caught 105 passes for 1056 yards and 6 touchdowns last year and was even better in the 2nd half of the season once he and Brady perfected their chemistry, catching 57 passes for 592 yards and 4 touchdowns in the final 8 games. He may have been replaceable, like Patriots’ slot receivers before him, but I highly doubt Brady and the Patriots wanted to have to try to make another Edelman on the fly next season like they tried to make a new Welker on the fly in 2013 before Edelman stepped up. It’s just so much easier to keep him, especially with the receiving corps in flux.
He’s still a one year wonder and his injury history is concerning, which is why it’s great they were able to keep him for just 17 million over 4 years (compare that to 28.5 million over 5 years for Danny Amendola last off-season). You can also compare that to the 12 million over 2 years that Wes Welker got from the Broncos last off-season. Edelman did a great job imitating Welker last season, especially down the stretch, and he’s 5 years younger, only going into his age 28 season. The Patriots made a mistake giving Amendola so much money, but they made the right move last off-season letting Welker walk because of Edelman and now they’ve made the right move by locking him up long-term.
The common narrative is that Edelman was just a target hog last season, but that’s not the whole story. His 146 targets were 10th in the NFL, but his catch rate of 71.9% was tied for 4th best in the NFL, higher than Welker (67.0%) with the Broncos last year and Welker with the Patriots in 2012 (71.1%). He might not have the same numbers next year with fewer targets, if Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski can stay healthy and Aaron Dobson can step up, but he was still too valuable to let go. Credit the Patriots for getting him at the right value after letting him test the open market.
Grade: A
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