What It Means:

Edelman's four-year, $17 million contract will expire after 2017. He's around the same age Wes Welker was when he left New England for a bigger payday, but Evans, a former Patriot himself, doesn't expect that to happen with Edelman. "I don’t think we’re going to see that with Jules," said Evans. "I think Jules embraces the grind-it-out-for-the-common-good mentality." The presence of Brandin Cooks and tight end Rob Gronkowski could eat into Edelman's workload this year but he's still quarterback Tom Brady's safety valve.

41 wide receivers saw at least 100 targets in 2016, and Edelman's 0.56 Reception Net Expected Points per target were fourth-least among those players.