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After playing 11 seasons with the Patriots, wide receiver Julian Edelman has been released. The Patriots officially terminated Edelman's contract today, with a "failed physical" designation on the NFL's transaction wire.

ESPN.com's Mike Reiss reported the expectation is that his release is a technicality as part of a retirement (Edelman subsequently made that official by announcing his retirement).

The failed physical is not a big surprise, given last week's news that Edelman wasn't expecting to be healthy enough to play a full season following knee surgery last year. A source familiar with Edelman's situation told Boston Herald staffer Karen Guregian it's doubtful he will be able to play the entire 2021 season.

Edelman played just six games last season because of the knee injury.

Edelman still had one year left on a deal that would have paid him a base salary of $2.8 million, along with a cap hit of $6.1 million, according to Over The Cap. By releasing Edelman, the Patriots are on the hook for roughly $2.6 million of that, freeing up about $3.5 million in cap space.

As Profootballtalk.com suggests, if Edelman is able to play this year, the Buccaneers would be an obvious possibility, given his long connection to Tom Brady and the Bucs' aggressiveness about taking on veteran players.

But it appears that Edelman, who has appeared in 137 games, catching 620 passes for 6,822 yards with 36 career touchdowns, may have played his last game not only as a Patriot, but in the NFL altogether. If so, he walks away as a three-time Super Bowl champion who won the MVP in Super Bowl LIII and has been part of many of the most memorable games of the last decade.