Tom Brady's Former Teammate Explains Why Their Relationship Is Over

Tom Brady and Julian Edelman were once a powerhouse duo for the New England Patriots. Together, Brady and Edelman led their team to three Super Bowls and shared a very public friendship as teammates. Many assumed Brady's departure from the Pats in 2020 would sting for Edelman, but Edelman explained he wished his former teammate well and looked ahead to the next chapter without him. "I love him to death but the train keeps moving, as it will when I'm not playing here or something," he said, per 98.5 The Sports Hub. "I mean, it just always keeps going. We've got to worry about the people that we have here, and try to prepare ourselves the best we can with the situation that we're in."

It seemed they'd maintained their relationship, as Brady also wished Edelman well in a heartfelt Instagram post when the wide receiver announced his retirement in April 2021. "On the biggest stage and in the biggest moments, you always came through," Brady wrote at the time. "You were as tough as could be and I love you for all that you did to make our teams as great as they could possibly be." 

Edelman's recent comments, however, are now leading football fans to believe his and Brady's previously close friendship has come to an end.

Julian Edelman suggested that he and his buddy Tom Brady don't have a friendship at the moment. "Nah, Tom hasn't called me," Edelman said on Paramount+'s weekly "Inside the NFL" (via CBS Boston). "And in fact, you know ... we have a little beef right now," The retired wide receiver did not offer much insight about what their falling out may have been about. "We'll leave it between us," Edelman said. "But we have a beef right now. I can't [share what it's about]. I can't kiss and tell! I can't kiss and tell, like someone said." He went on to say he doubts Brady's team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will repeat their Super Bowl win this year.

Edelman's new claims that he and Brady aren't speaking seem to contrast with his previous statements about keeping up their relationship. "It's kind of like a relationship or a marriage where you grew apart but you still love each other," Edelman said on "Pardon My Take" (via Mass Live). "You still love each other. You may have a couple kids. We have three kids," he joked. "So there's still communication of what you guys are going through and how you're doing. But you've both got your own lives that you have to keep on going towards." On seeing Brady and his former teammate Rob Gronkowski do well in Tampa, Edelman added, "Right now it's obviously definitely weird, but it is what it is."

Before Julian Edelman announced he and Tom Brady were no longer speaking, the former teammates appeared to be good buddies on social media. After Edelman announced his retirement, he playfully posted a meme teasing Brady's outspoken disapproval of the NFL's updated jersey rules. Brady responded with a nod to Edelman's career move. "Now that you are a free agent @edelman11, are you buttering me up??" Brady wrote, per New York Post. 

Brady's joke about Edelman's potential return to football excited fans, as Brady previously influenced Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski to do the same with him for the Buccaneers. However, Edelman shut down those rumors on "The Michael Irvin Podcast," with an apparent jab at Brady. "I'm a one-team guy," Edelman teased. He later admitted Brady attempted to do what fans suspected, but he declined. "I was like, 'Absolutely not,'" he said, per CBS.

Now that Julian Edelman and Tom Brady's beef is known to the public, their recent comments about one another seem a little shady. Edelman recently made fun of a sideline interaction between Brady and Rob Gronkowski on "Monday Night Football." The retired wide receiver provided a cheeky voiceover to the players' conversation. "Babe, I thought you did well today," Edelman said, imitating Brady. "You know, we gotta keep it going, we gotta get better."

Brady responded to Edelman's less-than-flattering impression of him with some counter-shade on the "Let's Go" podcast. "Usually I tell Julian to stick to his day job with something like this. I don't even think he has a day job, though," he joked, per WEEI. He added another jab at Edelman, suggesting he was posing as his Patriots predecessor, saying, "He basically pretended to be Wes Welker his whole career so what can't he do?"