Patriots Rumors: Julian Edelman Ready to Show He's Not 'Just a Product of Brady'

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has made a career of catching passes from Tom Brady, but he is reportedly motivated to prove himself without the all-time great.

"Julian is Julian," one Patriots player said of the veteran, per Michael Giardi of NFL Network. "He hates excuses. He hates to lose. He's already got the red ass about this season. People thinking we're no good and (that) he's just a product of Brady."

Edelman is no stranger to being overlooked considering he entered the league as a seventh-round pick in 2009 out of Kent State, which is not exactly a football powerhouse.

He has spent his entire career with Brady and the Patriots and has three Super Bowl rings as a result, but he is in a different position this year with the quarterback on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What's more, tight end Rob Gronkowski is in Tampa Bay, meaning Edelman is the most notable offensive connection for the 2020 Patriots to the dynasty of the recent past.

While Edelman is 34 years old, he showed no signs of slowing with 100 catches for a career-best 1,117 yards and six touchdowns last season. He put up those numbers without Gronkowski to draw the defensive attention away since the tight end was retired, but it will likely be difficult to replicate them with Jarrett Stidham under center instead of Brady.

After all, Stidham was a fourth-round pick in 2019 and has thrown a mere four passes in his NFL career.

Still, there is reason for optimism in New England with head coach Bill Belichick running the show, a potentially dominant defense in place and an AFC East that is not exactly loaded with Super Bowl contenders.

New England has won the division in 16 of the last 17 years, including the last 11, and will be competing against other young quarterbacks in Tua Tagovailoa, Sam Darnold and Josh Allen.

None of those signal-callers will have a motivated Edelman to target either, which is something Stidham figures to do early and often in 2020. He will likely need to if the Patriots are going to maintain their grip on the division and perhaps challenge the best teams in the AFC in the playoffs.