Julian Edelman Says He's a '1-Team Guy' After Tom Brady, Gronkowski Joked About Bucs

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

A year ago, Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement to join Tom Brady in Tampa.

 Julian Edelman will not be following suit.

The recently retired wideout appeared on the Michael Irvin Podcast and said he is a "one-team guy" who has no desire to continue playing football, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe:

"My knee's breaking down, I'm not gonna sit here, you know, I got everything I wanted. I got three rings, played in a magical dynasty, with an unbelievable franchise coach, best quarterback of all times, like, yo, I'm not a greedy guy. I played to win, I played to compete, I don't need anything else to prove. I'm good with what I did, I left it all out on the field."

Edelman announced his retirement in April after spending 12 seasons with the Patriots.

A longtime top target of Brady in New England, there was natural speculation that Edelman would join the growing contingent of Brady favorites in Tampa. Brady fueled that speculation last month by joking that Edelman was "scared" to tell Bill Belichick he wanted to play for the Bucs. 

“We know Julian didn’t retire. Let’s be honest. He’s just too scared to tell Bill [Belichick] he wanted to come to Tampa...I’ve been there," Brady said on the NFL Draft-a-Thon telecast. 

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Gronkowski told ESPN's Mike Greenberg that he thought Edelman might eventually come back if his body felt better after sitting out the 2021 season.

Edelman suffered a number of injuries during his NFL career, ranging from a torn ACL to concussions. His balky knee was the most pressing injury late in his career, costing him all but six games in 2020.