New England Patriots expect Aqib Talib, Julian Edelman to allow them to match all offers
By Josh Hill
The New England Patriots typically aren’t big spenders in free agency as they tend to want to bring players back rather than chase big names. Every so often though the two types of players mix, as Aqib Talib and Julian Edelman happen to be both Patriots free agents and big name free agents as well.
According to Mike Reiss, the Patriots are allowing both players to hit the market with the understanding that they’ll come back to them with any offers they get and allow New England a chance to match.
"Both wanted to see what was available to them on the market, with the understanding that they would circle back to the Patriots before the official start of free agency because talks with the team have been open-ended. A successful free-agent period for the Patriots would be retaining Talib and Edelman, and this is a key part of the process. It is unclear what market has developed for either player at this point."
New England would be in rough shape if they lost both Talib and Edelman but it appears that they’re going to get final say on whether they want them back or not.