Patriots’ Julian Edelman Won’t Sue NFL

Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman won’t follow the Tom Brady playbook when it comes to his disagreement with the league. Edelman won’t take the NFL to federal court after an arbitrator recently upheld his PED suspension, a source tells Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). Instead, Edelman will focus his energy on football and prepare for his season, which will not start until Week 5. 

Edelman was suspended in early June following a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy, and his appeal was heard in early July. There was at least some mystery regarding Edelman’s failed test, but his argument centered around the fact that the NFL mishandled the documentation and delivery of his sample.

Edelman will miss games against the Texans, Jaguars, Lions, and Dolphins before returning in Week 5 to face the Colts. The Patriots have Kenny Britt, Jordan Matthews, Chris Hogan, Cordarrelle Patterson, Matt Slater, and Braxton Berrios to lean on (and star tight end Rob Gronkowski), but Brady will still miss his projected No. 1 target at wide receiver.

Over his past four healthy seasons, Edelman has averaged 89 catches, 956 yards, and five touchdowns per campaign. But, unfortunately, Edelman hasn’t been on the field for more than a year, as a torn ACL ended his 2017 campaign before it began. Now that he has decided against legal action, we know that it will take him an extra month before he can return to the field.