Tom Brady

Tom Brady jokes that Julian Edelman was ‘scared’ to tell Bill Belichick he wanted to join the Buccaneers

Edelman announced his retirement from the NFL earlier in April.

By Conor Roche

April 30, 2021

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When Julian Edelman announced he was retiring from the NFL earlier in April, many thought we hadn’t seen the last of him and he was instead angling to reunite with Tom Brady.

Brady joked about that possibility during the “NFL Draft-A-Thon” Thursday evening.

“We know Julian didn’t retire,” Brady said. “Let’s be honest, he was too scared to tell Bill (Belichick) he wants to come to Tampa. I’ve been there.”

From the NFL Draft-A-Thon 2021:@TomBrady: “We know Julian didn’t retire. He’s just too scared to tell Bill he wants to come to Tampa. I’ve been there.”

🤣🤣pic.twitter.com/sIXUBxcFLj

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 30, 2021

Comedian Kevin Hart, who was also part of the event, asked Edelman if he was going to do what Rob Gronkowski did, which was to come out of retirement to play with Brady in Tampa Bay, or if he was going to stay retired.

“I am done,” Edelman said.

.@Edelman11 holding it down for the “small guys,” and is he really retired?

Watch #DraftAThon LIVE: https://t.co/EJLdH3J5CE pic.twitter.com/HZKxL8FzdG

— NFL (@NFL) April 30, 2021

Brady isn’t the first ex-teammate of Edelman’s to jokingly speculate that the retired receiver will eventually end up in Tampa Bay. Gronkowski joked earlier this month that there’s a “69 percent chance” Edelman would join him and Brady on the Buccaneers.

Unlike with Gronkowski, Edelman wouldn’t need to be traded by the Patriots to end up with the Buccaneers because he was released due to a failed physical.

But for now, Edelman’s got his new career path all settled. Last week, he announced that he’s joining the long-running show “Inside the NFL” as a panelist. In addition, Edelman’s production company, Coast Productions, reached an agreement with ViacomCBS to help produce films and TV shows.