Tom Brady is regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time, but is Patrick Mahomes going to overtake that title?
It's been a debate for years and has ramped up again with Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs looking to three-peat as Super Bowl champions on Feb. 9 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
And for Julian Edelman, Brady's longtime teammate and three-time Super Bowl champ, he believes the debate will only get more talked about should the Chiefs win Super Bowl LIX.
"The argument's getting closer," Edelman said during his appearance on NBC Sports Boston's "Patriots Talk Podcast." "I mean, if he goes out and three-peats. ... This is the salary cap era, it's tough to win consistently in this league. That's something that no one's ever done. So it's going to get closer."
Edelman went on to point out differences during Brady's time as New England Patriots quarterback and Mahomes' success with the Chiefs, noting Brady faced a lot of adversity throughout his career.
"I think that the difference is, Tom had three different Hall of Fame careers and was able to perform at such a high level through so many different forms of adversity, whether it was someone murdering someone or some of the 'gates' that we went through, a suspension, it didn't matter," Edelman said. "He was able to perform at the highest level no matter what."
Because the Chiefs haven't faced "any crazy adversity," Mahomes can't be evaluated the way Brady was. The Patriots went through "Spygate," "Deflategate" and played without Brady for the first four games of the 2016 season due to suspension.
But they went on to win the Super Bowl LI in a historic comeback over the Atlanta Falcons.
Brady quarterbacked two different rosters in two different Patriots dynasties, which only further showcased how talented the QB was during his career.
"There's going to be a time where Travis (Kelce) ain't there. There's going to be a time where Chris Jones ain't gonna be there," Edelman said. "And then I think that's when you start evaluating Patrick on if he's going to get to where Tom's at, but he's well on his way."
Should the Chiefs win on Feb. 9, Mahomes will earn his fourth Super Bowl ring. It would be an impressive feat at just 29 years old. And while he'd still need three more Super Bowl victories to match Brady's total, Mahomes -- who never beat Brady in the playoffs -- has already made quite the career for himself.