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Cam Newton Says Joining the Patriots is ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’
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For the vast majority of Julian Edelman’s NFL career, he had the luxury of throwing football at Tom Brady, the most accomplished player in his position and perhaps the greatest of all time. That’s a pretty sweet situation to find yourself in, but that ran out this entire season after Brady chose to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency, making his two-decade run with the New England Patriots, along with his on-field relationship with Edelman, an end.
The 34-year-old was probably the closest player to Brady, while teammates in Foxborough and openly fought for him to sign this offseason with New England, but that eventually fell on deaf ears. While Edelman would certainly have seen Brady dart up and down the field for the rest of his football days, he acknowledged during a video conference on Monday that it’s time to turn the page.
“I mean of course it was a slightly different scenario, but you have to keep going,” he said when asked about Brady’s departure this offseason. “This is a business and you wish him well. And that’s when you immediately start thinking about what you need to do for yourself to go out and contribute and help the team for the coming year.
“Of course, yes, we played a lot of ball together. I love him until death do us part, but the train stays the way it is when I’m not playing here or anything. It just keeps going on and on. We have to worry about the people we have here and trying to best prepare us for the situation we are in with everything we have to deal with. “
Edelman is apparently extremely motivated for the 2020 season and sees it as an opportunity to show that he is not a by-product of Brady’s brilliance. He is also looking to build off his career-high 1,117 yards campaign from last year, while also building chemistry with a new quarterback. Who will eventually do that is still (officially) determined, but the competition will be between Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham, and Brian Hoyer. However, when everyone is at full strength, Newton certainly has the inside track when winning the performance.
So far, the former league MVP seems to catch Edelman’s eye.
“He’s a specimen, for sure,” Edelman of Newton said. “When you meet him for the first time – just his stature. The guy is big, well put together and he has a great energy. He has a great energy about himself. I was really impressed with his work ethic and his thoughts. “Just like I was impressed with (Jarrett) Stidham’s and (Brian) Hoyer’s. I went with those guys too.”
New England’s first practice practice is not planned until August 17, but Edelman – along with other Patriots receivers – have been able to place some reps with all three quarterbacks daring to succeed Tom Brady’s heir be under center at various points this offseason. During a summer that has reps on a premium set, those sessions have been extremely valuable in building chemistry on the fly, regardless of who wins the job.
“I think every time you spend time with guys who deliver football, quarterbacks, especially on your own and away from the facility, that’s when you’ll be teaching each other on a whole different level,” Edelman said. “Not just as a footballer, but as a person and a family man, everything. If you learn these things, then that’s where relationships and trust are built.
“I think all the quarterbacks, Jarrett, Hoy and Cam, they were all very excited to go out and just, ‘Hey, let’s throw. Hey, let’s throw.’ It’s been great. You really need this time, especially with not having an offseason and getting to see each other really on the field with organized team activities. It was great to go out and get some reps and try something. “We need to do a lot more, but we’re in the same boat as everyone else, and we’ll try to make the best of it.”
With the departure of Brady, Edelman is now the longest-serving Patriot on the offensive side of the ball.
