The New England Patriots were dealt a potentially major blow on Thursday morning with the announcement that veteran wide receiver Julian Edelman will be handed a four-game suspension to start the 2018 NFL season due to violating the league's performance-enhancing drugs policy.

It wasn't a move that had come entirely out of nowhere as a Reddit user had reportedly leaked the news on the website the night before calling it major breaking news, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

On Reddit’s Patriots message board on Wednesday night, a user going by the name Redditlover1981 posted, “Rumor: Edelman potentially getting suspended 4 games for PED’s.” Although Redditlover1981 didn’t say where he heard the rumor, he said that it would be “national news” that was breaking “tomorrow.”

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Although the user has since been suspended from the website, it is clear that this person had inside track on what exactly was happening with the situation behind the scenes. There was some privy knowledge being passed out with the league being aware of the situation that led to Reddit taking action.

Nonetheless, the Patriots have found themselves potentially without the services of one of their top wide receivers. Edelman had missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in the preseason. He was set to make his return to the field in a major role in the offense that has had much scuffling around with the departure of both Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola in the offseason.

Granted, Edelman has already put out an appeal against the four-game ban, but it's a disappointing situation for the Patriots involving one of their more higher profile offensive talents. It's something that should sort itself out well ahead of the start of the 2018 season as there should be a ruling in the coming weeks once the appeal is officially applied.