Throughout his career, Rob Gronkowski has been adamant that he’s only interested in playing with Tom Brady, nixing a trade to the Lions for that very reason. “Brady’s my quarterback,” said Gronk in 2018. “[I’m not] going anywhere without Brady.”
With Brady calling it quits last week (though he’s already opened the door for a return, telling Jim Gray, “Never say never”), most expect Gronk, who has already retired once before, to follow suit. The Bucs tight end has hinted at this possibility, relaying to TMZ last month that if he had to decide “right now,” the 11-year vet would probably lean toward retirement. Of course—because why give a straight answer when you can dominate the news cycle by leaving a breadcrumb trail of clues and cryptic non-answers—Gronkowski countered that by telling local media, “I’ll never throw anything off the board,” including a return to Tampa Bay, with or without Brady.
The 32-year-old remained productive as ever in 2021, averaging 66.8 yards per game (his most since 2017) with six touchdowns while receiving PFF’s seventh-highest grade out of 70 positional qualifiers at tight end. Gronkowski was tempted to join his hometown Bills last offseason before running it back with Brady and should attract similar free agent interest in 2022. During a Q&A Tuesday to promote his new NFT collection, Gronk was asked what quarterback he’d be most interested in teaming up with, assuming he returns for another season. It didn’t take Gronk long to answer with the five-time Pro Bowler gushing over Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
“I kind of like this young buck quarterback. He’s in the Super Bowl,” said Gronk via MassLive’s Chris Mason. “I watched him in college. I just love the way he presents himself out on the football field. In the pocket he's just so calm and he just slings it out on the field.”
With plenty of uncertainty surrounding Tampa Bay—Brady’s retirement leaves Kyle Trask as the Bucs’ QB1—Cincinnati would be an intriguing landing spot for Gronk, particularly with the Bengals’ current tight end, C.J. Uzomah, headed for free agency. Gronkowski would seem to have plenty left in the tank, though as a budding entrepreneur with no shortage of side hustles and endorsement opportunities, the future Hall of Famer should have a bright post-playing career to look forward to as well.
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