Advertisement

Tom Brady jokes about Julian Edelman's retirement: 'Too scared to tell Bill he wanted to come to Tampa'

Is another New England Patriots reunion in the works for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? While appearing on an NFL draft call, Tom Brady jokingly said Julian Edelman wasn't retired, and that Edelman wanted to come to Tampa Bay.

Was Brady actually joking? You can be the judge. While on the call, Deion Sanders teases Brady by asking how Brady could let Edelman retire and not join the Buccaneers first. Edelman, who is also on the call, listens in as Brady says, "We know Julian didn't retire, let's be honest. He's just too scared to tell Bill [Belichick] he wanted to come to Tampa."

The moment takes place at the 13:22 mark of the video:

Edelman doesn't give much of a response to Brady's comments. Edelman tries to change the subject by making fun of Brady, but Kevin Hart asks Edelman if he's really done with football. Again, Edelman tries get off the topic by calling Hart "short." Hart presses one final time, and Edelman says, "I am done," while winking and nodding his head ... which doesn't clear things up at all.

Will Julian Edelman reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay?

As long as Edelman is healthy, and can still play at an acceptable level, there's nothing holding him back from joining the Buccaneers. Brady may have joked about Belichick, but the Patriots terminated Edelman's contract after Edelman failed a physical. He's officially a free agent.

Whether Edelman wants to keep playing depends on that knee injury. Edelman cited it — and various other injuries he's experienced over his career — as the main reason he was retiring from football. If things improve over the next couple months and Edelman finds himself missing the game, perhaps he could decide to pull a Rob Gronkowski and sign up for another couple years with Brady.

It's tough to tell how serious Brady was on the call, but he seemed pretty on board with the idea. Given that there's precedent here with Gronkowski, it wouldn't be the most shocking thing in the world to hear Edelman to Tampa Bay rumors in the coming months.

More from Yahoo Sports: