Julian Edelman was almost a Green Bay Packer

Patriots receiver Julian Edelman has been elevated to - dare I say - almost star status?

That's what happens when you're the number one receiver on an offense led by Tom Brady. Of course, if we were to tell you that Edelman was going to be the best receiver on the 2013 Patriots last year, you would've probably burst into inconsolable tears.

Yet, Mr. Edelman has exceeded expectations. In fact, his stats are nearly identical to those of his predecessor, Wes Welker. Not bad for a guy who was brought back on a one year deal for a measly $715,000, the five year minimum.

The Patriots are lucky they re-signed him, in fact, they're pretty lucky to have drafted him in the first place. In a recent interview with Peter King, Edelman reveals that he was pretty close to becoming a Green Bay Packer.

ESPNBoston:

In a visit with The MMQB's Peter King on his podcast, Edelman dissected some of the build-up to the draft and also how close he was to not becoming a Patriot.

With the picks winding down in the seventh round, Edelman's agent began fielding calls from teams about signing a free agent contract if he were to go undrafted.

He got far enough along in the process to settle on a team.

"It was going to be the Packers, it was going to be the Green Bay Packers," he said. "I don't know why, [but] my agent thought it was the best fit."

Thankfully, that didn't happen. The Patriots picked Edelman in the seventh round. He's gone from quaterback to promising receiver, to cornerback to punt returner to, finally, star receiver. Quite a journey, and one that's likely to cost the Pats in the off-season.