The Patriots Lock Up Julian Edelman for the Rest of His Career, and He Could Be the Best Pats WR of All Time Before It's Over

For Patriots fans who’ve felt the cold sting of a Valyerian blade plunged into their mommy/daddy parts every time Julian Edelman admitted he could be released at any time, this is welcome news.

I mean, credit to him he understands the reality he lives in, where this dynasty has perpetuated itself by taking players we’re emotionally attached to and sticking them on an ice floe and pushed them out into the sea for the old Eskimo funeral once they became too old or two expensive. But still, it’s never easy. And the thought of it happening to this particular folk hero has been nightmare fuel. None of us wants to live in the reality where he’s catching passes from Andy Dalton or God forbid, Sam Darnold or whomever. And today we find out we should never have to. And it’s a day to rejoice.

But also, it’s a day to make wild, hard to defend and probably blatantly clickbaity claims. Which I am about to do.

Julian Edelman could right now be the best wide receiver in Patriots history. And if he isn’t he soon will be.

Let me say right up front that if this is a baseball argument, meaning it’s strictly argued on the basis of stats, I lose. Consider:

–Stanley Morgan is the still the all time franchise leader in receiving yards with 10,352. That is not only 2,500 yards more than the next guy, it’s roughly double Edelman’s career total.

–Similarly, no one can touch Wes Welker in terms of production. He was an automatic 110+ catch, 1,100+ yard receiver for his six years here. He’s the franchise leader in receptions with 672. In just 93 games. To put that in perspective, Troy Brown is a distant second with 557, and Morgan had 534. Brown played 99 games more than Welker, Morgan played 87 more. Edelman’s next reception will his 500th, but he’s already taken 115 games to get there.

Fortunately for me, this isn’t baseball. The battlefield I’m fighting this on isn’t their Pro Football Reference pages. Football arguments are about success. Accomplishments. Team goals. Moments. Clutch performances. And while Edelman will never hit the marks those aforementioned wideouts have, they can’t tough him when it comes to his total body of work.

Like with Troy Brown, you can’t just look at Edelman’s games played versus his numbers and make an apples to apples comparison to Morgan and Welker, who were both starters from the day they set foot in Foxboro. Morgan was a 1st round pick out of Tennessee. The team gave up draft picks to get Welker. Brown and Edelman were 8th (round that doesn’t even exist anymore) and 7th rounders respectively, who constantly had to avoid The Turk coming to ask for their playbook like the Grim Reaper. If you look at what each did once they put a Figure-4 Leg Lock on the starting job, Brown in 2001, Edelman in 2013, you get a much more accurate depiction of what they meant to their offenses. They still don’t match Welker’s totals, but they each became 100 reception, 1,000 yards guys.

And it’s in the postseason that Edelman wins this argument. Even over Brown. Certainly over Welker. Brown’s clutch moments speak for themselves. Without him the Pats don’t win any of their first three Super Bowls. Punt returns for touchdowns. Blocked kick laterals for touchdowns. Huge 1st downs on game winning drives. And Welker was one of the few offensive player to actually show up in The Super Bowl That Shall Not Be Named, with 11 receptions and 104 yards. But the fact is, his postseason production in his New England career was below his regular season production across the board, in virtually every category from Receptions per Game to Yards per Reception and on and on.

And while it pains me to say it – Warning, this clip contains graphic content. Viewer discretion advised – there was this, from TSBTSNBN, Part II:

Whereas Edelman will not only take this in Valhalla with him:

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… as well as his game winner in Super Bowl XLIX against Seattle, his postseason production is above his regular season production, across the board. In his last nine postseason games, he has six games of over 100 yards, another with 96 yards, and in his three postseason games last year totaled 151, 96 and 141. That’s an average of just under 130 per game. Against the best teams in the league. And did I mention he’s No. 2 in NFL history in postseason catches with 115? Just 36 behind Jerry Rice? Let me make up for that by mentioning it now.

And … I can’t stress this enough … counting. Give him three to five more years in this system. Keep him relatively healthy. Climbing the team’s all time rankings while padding his already impressive playoff resume, maybe setting a record for postseason catches and adding to his ring collection? There’s no way he doesn’t retire the most successful wide receiver they’ve ever had. If he’s not there already.