When Braylon Edwards signed with the Seattle Seahawks, I was pulling for him to surprise everyone and have a big year. It didn’t quite go as Edwards may have been hoping for in Seattle. The Seahawks parted ways with Edwards in what was reported as a surprise move. This latest bump in the road for Edwards could very well be the one that ends his NFL career.
The way it went down officially according to reports is that Edwards was “waived/injured,” which would imply that he may not have passed Seattle’s team physical on the way out and that could mean they may reach an injury-settlement with him.
I’m more likely to believe the theory that the Seahawks just didn’t see any future between them and Edwards. It had to do more with his ability than anything else. Seattle added him at the start of the season because of depth issues they were having at the wide receiver postion, but now that’s no longer an issue for them.
Edwards is only 29 years old, so it’s not like it’s impossible for him to get another chance in the league with another team. However, in seven years, he’s now gone from a top-five wide receiver in the draft to a player that’s already played for four teams. The odds will be against him going forward.
For some reason, I’ve always pulled for Edwards to do well. It’s not like I know the man personally or anything, however it’s just a case of seeing the flashes of superb talent that he has shown us since he broke into the league out of Michigan seven years ago. That’s just it with Edwards, all we’ve seen from him is flashes.
The Cleveland Browns drafted him as the third overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, with the hope that he’d be their big-play receiver for years to come. His time in Cleveland barely lasted four years before he was traded to the New York Jets.
Edwards had the big market city and a team that was primed to compete for a Super Bowl. It would seem like the ideal time for him to turn that potential into reality. It didn’t happen there for him either and after a couple of seasons, he found himself attempting to stick with the San Francisco 49ers before being shown the door there.
A failed tryout with the Miami Dolphins this past summer would lead Edwards to Seattle for what’s looking like his last stop and last chance in the NFL.
I grew up watching episodes of NFL Films on weekends and remember a clip of Sam Wyche telling one of his players that the NFL stands for "Not For Long". It implied that if it’s not done right when expectations are at it’s highest, then don’t expect to be around too much longer.
I can’t help but think that Edwards has run out of chances in the NFL, and that’s a shame. It’s not a shame because the NFL can be as cut-throat a business as it can be rewarding. It’s a shame because in this case, it appears to be about a young man who never maximized his full potential.
There could have been so much more and when it comes to Braylon Edwards. I was pulling for this to be the case.
