I would not risk Talib on a punt return. As it is, he's not the most durable player. I'd hate seeing our number 1 corner get hammered, trying to return a ball.
Yeah, he had the entire field because he was 25 yards away from the ball. Unless Edelman stopped-on-a-dime and fired a strike, by the time he turned and threw it the defenders probably would have recovered somewhat.
It was a terrific design, but the "throw" wasn't the only problem with the execution. When Edelman went to throw, Talib was still 7 yards ahead of him. Had it even been a good throw, Talib would have caught it in stride going the opposite direction.
Good call, poor execution. Edelman has to have better awareness and swallow it if it's not there.
I wouldn't mind trying it again in a similar spot. Another punt return play I really liked was the Bears one time sending their main returner and blockers as a decoy to where the punt was not going. Someone else catches the ball on the side where the ball actually is and he ran it back for a TD. Unfortunately it came back on a hold. But it was a brilliant play.