Rob Gronkowski’s first experience as an NFL free agent came and went without much fanfare (he was on the market for all of a few hours) as the future Hall-of-Famer predictably signed on for another year with Tampa Bay. Under normal circumstances, running it back with the reigning champs would have been a no-brainer for Gronk, but apparently one particularly motivated suitor made the 31-year-old’s decision much tougher.
Per Michael Silver of NFL Network, Gronkowski weighed an 11th-hour offer from his hometown Bills, strongly considering the possibility of finishing his career where his football aspirations began as a wide-eyed youth growing up in snow-covered Western New York. While a homecoming with the Bills, who have never had the privilege of raising a Lombardi Trophy (the Cowboys teams of the 1990s made sure of that), would have made for a compelling narrative, when it came down to it, Gronk didn’t have the stomach to leave behind his longtime collaborator and safety net, Tom Brady.
Gronkowski is nowhere near the athlete he was during his New England prime, but he’s still a hell of a blocker and a dominant force in the red zone, as evidenced by his two touchdowns in last month’s Super Bowl LV victory over Kansas City. Despite his local ties, it would have been a truly bizarre sight to see Gronk, after so many years of beating up on his hometown team (his 12 touchdowns against Buffalo are his most against any opponent), returning to the AFC East as a member of Bills Mafia.
If the Bills, coming off their first division title in 25 years, were hoping to land a top-flight tight end in free agency, they might be out of luck with the trio of Gronk, Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith already spoken for. Buffalo could still pivot to one of Jared Cook, recently released by New Orleans amid the Saints’ cap purge, or Kyle Rudolph, though standing pat with 2019 third-rounder Dawson Knox or addressing the position in next month’s draft might be the safer play at this point.
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