Edelman's place in Canton open to debate

Recently retired Patriots receiver doesn't have the numbers, but he does have the rings

Since Julian Edelman announced his retirement on Monday, NFL corners of social media have been burning up — on two topics.

First, is the now former New England Patriots slot receiver worthy of eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame induction?

Second, has Edelman really retired?

A month shy of his 35th birthday, the Redwood City, Calif., native was cut by the Patriots on Monday, with a failed physical designation. This news leaked out just prior to Edelman's video announcement on social media that he has hung up his cleats.

“I've always said I'll go until the wheels come off,” Edelman said. “And they finally have fallen off. Due to an injury last year, I (am) making my official announcement of my retirement from football.”

The wheels in question? Chronic knee injuries in recent years. Edelman missed all of

2017 with an ACL tear in his right knee, and he played in only six games a year ago until undergoing his second surgery of 2020 on his left knee, which had been problematic for him since 2019. Apparently, not even surgery can repair what's wrong inside that knee. Shades of another iconic Boston sports star — Bobby Orr.

So, to answer the second question above, Edelman might try to come back from retirement but — à la Orr in Chicago in 1976 — it would probably be pointless, fruitless and just plain sad to do so on a chronically damaged knee, or knees. Thus, don't expect Edelman to pull a Gronk and similarly end his retirement to join Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.

Is Edelman worthy of the hall of fame? That's the more contentious question. On stats alone, no. And for offensive production positions (running back or pass catcher) that's pretty much what it always boils down to.

If Canton had a wing reserved just for playoff performers, Edelman would be a first-ballot inductee. He retires as the most prolific post-season pass catcher in NFL history not named Jerry Rice, with 118 receptions for

1,142 yards in 19 games.

And he was only the seventh wide receiver named a Super Bowl MVP, after snaring 10 of Tom Brady's 21 completions for 141 yards in the Patriots' February 2019 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Edelman was a key playmaker in four New England Super Bowl appearances and two wins in the last decade; his ACL tear forced him to miss the 2017 season and Super Bowl run, a loss to Philadelphia.

In regular seasons, Edelman's numbers were merely good, not great. He started 85 of 137 games in 11 seasons, and caught 620 passes for 6,822 yards and 36 touchdowns — more or less half the production of each of Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne, Steve Smith and Hines Ward, none of whom are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Perhaps most damningly, Edelman never once was named to the Pro Bowl — even if in three of his best seasons (2014, 2016, 2018) he could not have been added as a potential Pro Bowl injury replacement, because he wasn't available, as the Patriots in those years played in the Super Bowl.