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Last night, it was reported that the Patriots were pursuing wide receiver Julian Edelman aggressively. Now, it appears that they have made their offer and that it is for three years. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports:
#Patriots offered WR Julian Edelman a three-year deal, per source. Would like an answer by the start of free agency. They want to keep him
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2014
Albert Breer of NFL.com also followed up on Rapoport's Tweet with the following:
As @RapSheet said, Patriots operating on Edelman with an eye toward free agency ... Don't be surprised if they have a backup plan lined up.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 11, 2014
From this, a few things can be inferred:
1. Plan A for the Patriots is to have Julian Edelman return to the team
2. The Patriots have a number in mind for Edelman, and it's unlikely the team gets into a major bidding war for him.
3. Things could move quickly once free agency starts at 4:00 PM ET. Don't expect the Patriots to wait long as Edelman as the team has a good idea of who their option B will be.
Of course, we kind of already knew all three of these things. Nonetheless, it should be an interesting few hours on the Edelman front.