Julian Edelman credits Tom Brady for Jets’ current dysfunction
"This is kind of a new wrinkle in the league where teams are trying to buy the Super Bowl.”
At 1-6 so far on the season, the New England Patriots have entrenched themselves as one of the worst teams in the NFL out of the gate.
But the 2024 New York Jets aren’t necessarily faring that much better, at least when weighed against the high expectations placed on them.
New York is just 2-5 to start a year in which they were viewed as potential contenders — especially with Aaron Rodgers returning from a season-ending Achilles injury in 2023.
Even with several talented young players on both sides of the ball in Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, and Quinnen Williams, New York has failed to put it all together on the gridiron.
That has led to several desperate moves from New York’s front office, be it the team firing head coach Robert Salah earlier this month or trading for Rodgers’ longtime Packers teammate, Davante Adams, last week.
But Adams’ arrival and New York’s coaching shakeup didn’t shift the Jets’ momentum in Week 7, with Rodgers throwing one touchdown and two interceptions in his team’s 37-15 loss to the Steelers.
As brutal as the 2024 Patriots have been, the 2024 Jets have arguably been even more disappointing.
And if you ask Julian Edelman, the current state of the Jets is a direct result of Tom Brady’s impressive three-year run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“You’ve got to blame Tom Brady for this. He goes over to Tampa Bay and wins a Super Bowl and now everyone thinks they can do it,” Julian Edelman said during his appearance on ‘The Herd’ with Colin Cowherd on Monday. “The Rams go up two years later and do the same kind of thing. So this is kind of a new wrinkle in the league where teams are trying to buy the Super Bowl.”
Rodgers’ first full season in New York has not gone according to plan, with the 40-year-old QB throwing for 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions over seven games. His 48.9 QBR ranks 24th in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Brady led the Bucs to a Super Bowl in his first year with Tampa in 2020 — with the 43-year-old QB throwing for 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions before taking home Super Bowl LV MVP honors.
Even though the Bucs did not win another title over Brady’s final two years as a pro, he finished second in NFL MVP voting in 2021 before throwing for 25 touchdowns and nine picks in 2022.
Matthew Stafford’s four-year run with the Rams has been a bit more up and down when it comes to both team success and his overall production. But the former Lions QB still delivered in 2021 — throwing for 41 touchdowns before leading the Rams to a Super Bowl title over the Bengals.
While the Jets still boast plenty of talent across their depth chart, Edelman believes that time isn’t necessarily on the side of a win-now New York roster.
“They’re gonna run out of time. I feel bad, but you know that’s why it’s important in the offseason to nail down crucial fundamentals that you will lean on subconsciously when it’s a stressful time,” Edelman said said of the Jets. “That’s where I see a lot of their problems.”
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