Immediately following the Patriots' trade of Brandin Cooks, many assumed this meant Rob Gronkowski was not only playing in 2018, but the Patriots would not be trading him.
Appearing on Kirk & Callahan Wednesday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter said not only is he hearing Gronkowski isn't going to be traded now, he wasn't going to be traded at any point this offseason.
"I don't think he was ever getting moved during the offseason," Schefter said. "I don't think that was ever a viable option for that team. Now, maybe at one point in time somebody considered something. That's possible. I don't know about that. But, as I have checked into it and as it has been explained to me from various people from various sides, I don't sense anything that would tell me Rob Gronkowski is or ever was being traded. Look, we all know, you never rule out anything in this business, anything is possible. I never got a sense that that was a viable option."
Schefter doesn't know exactly what his status is for next season because he hasn't talked to him.
"I can't answer that because I don't know," he said. "I haven't spoken to him to give you an authoritative answer to say to you he's coming back, he's not coming back. I think the sense is and the signs have pointed to him coming back. It's hard to imagine that he wouldn't come back, but I haven't heard that from him, so I cannot tell you that for sure."
He also detailed how the Cooks trade came about and noted Bill Belichick and Sean McVay had a conversation Monday that may have furthered talks Les Snead and Nick Caserio had been having already.
"New England had attempted to re-sign him during the offseason and they got to a certain number and that number wasn't going to get it done," Schefter said. "Once it wasn't going to get it done, New England wasn't going to go higher and they recognized, 'OK, we have a guy here that we're stuck with.' The Rams have been talking to the Patriots for over a month now. … Then there were reports the Rams had been interested in Odell Beckham Jr. They did some diligence on him and some background checks and looked into that possibility. Ultimately, they decided upon looking into that, that the best thing they would do right now, the best situation, was not OBJ, but Brandin Cooks.
"They went back to the Patriots and on Monday, Sean McVay, the Rams head coach, and Bill Belichick were working at the same coaching clinic in Georgia. The dialogue that had been going on between Les Snead and Nick Caserio was continued by McVay and Belichick. They basically were able, I think to put into place a framework for a deal. Now, the Patriots were talking to a couple of other teams. We don't know who those teams were, but if you go back to last year the teams that had inquired on Brandin Cooks with the Saints when the Saints were dealing him were the Eagles and Bears. My sense is maybe the Patriots got calls from them as well.
"I think that the visit with McVay and Belichick on Monday was key and the fact that Rams were in the market for a wide receiver to replace Sammy Watkins, that was key. And you add in the fact New England couldn't and wouldn't re-sign Brandin Cooks with the Rams' interest in a wide receiver there you go."
Schefter said the Patriots likely wanted Cooks for around $12 million per year.
"You saw some of these wide receiver deals come in," he said. "Mike Evans came in north of $16 million. Sammy Watkins came in at about $16 million. Allen Robinson came in north of $15 million. When you get these deals, you see the market for top wide receivers. It's $14.5-15 million a year, north of there. I don't believe the Patriots' intent was to go that high for Brandin Cooks. I think they would have liked to have brought him back at a certain price, in their own minds, whatever that was. My guess would be somewhere in the $12 million range, right around there. Obviously, Brandin Cooks looked out there, saw all these other wide receivers getting the money and wasn't going to commit what New England was offering."
Following the trade, some speculated the Patriots could now be in on Beckham Jr., but Schefter said he hasn't heard anything about that and does not expect it to happen.
