ATLANTA, GEORGIA – FEBRUARY 03: Rob Gronkowski #87 and Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots speak to each other prior to Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 03, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Rob Gronkowski reuniting with Tom Brady is a longshot, but here’s what would need to happen.
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers load their proverbial cannon for a run at the Super Bowl with Tom Brady under center, all options could be on the table. So naturally, some speculation about former Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski coming out of retirement to reunite with Brady has surfaced.
Gronkowski has joined WWE and he recently hosted Wrestlemania, so he may have no interest in playing football anymore. He has also appeared to lose a lot of weight in his time away from the game, so there would be some ramp up time to be physically ready to play.
Buccaneers’ general manager Jason Licht was asked about the possibility of adding Gronkowski last week. He was predictably non-committal while acknowledging a big hurdle if Gronkowski did want to play again.
The Patriots own Gronkowski’s rights. So they would have to trade or release him to open the door for any team to add him.
Gronkowski would be due $9 million in base salary this year if he decided to unretire. The Patriots cannot take that on as is right now, with a shade over $1.2 million in cap space (according to Over The Cap). So if Gronk wanted to force that hand, and pave the way for a reunion with Brady, he could.
That hypothetical leverage could lead to the Patriots trading Gronkowski for less than his perceived value. One of Tampa Bay’s current tight ends would become unnecessary if they had a chance to get Gronk, and the internal preference would probably be to part with Cameron Brate over O.J. Howard. Draft picks could also be part of any trade, perhaps going both directions.
The first and biggest domino here is Gronkowski coming out of retirement, which makes the whole scenario of joining Brady in Tampa Bay patently unlikely until further notice. But it is interesting to consider, and the path to it is pretty easy if Gronkowski decides he wants to play.