After a brief retirement, Tom Brady will be back for another season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But what about his longtime tight end, Rob Gronkowski?
The Buccaneers want him back. In a Wednesday interview with Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio, general manager Jason Licht said (per Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Times) that they hope Gronk comes back.
But what does Gronkowski want to do? According to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, there’s a lot of uncertainty.
Drew Rosenhaus said he spoke with Tampa Bay Bucs yesterday about his client TE Rob Gronkowski. He said he told them Gronk is “truly undecided” about playing in 2022. Gronk has hinted this offseason about likely returning to TB but wants to take his time. Bucs want him back.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) March 24, 2022
As expected, plenty of football fans read between the lines. They came away with some slightly different interpretations.
One was that Gronkowski will return. Just, not until some of the more grueling parts of the offseason are over.
“Truly undecided” = Will join the Bucs after all offseason mini camps and OTAs are complete.
— Nate Hamilton (@DomiNateFF) March 24, 2022
Clearly doesn’t want to do OTA’s. Give it time. https://t.co/ADll5f8wue
— Tully (@Tullydactyl) March 24, 2022
https://twitter.com/TRF832/status/1507093720402993152
That was one interpretations, but not the only one. Another is that, since Gronkowski is a free agent, he’s waiting for Tampa to offer the right deal.
Translation … he is waiting for Tom to restructure his contract, Free up some more of that sweet cap room and make the call 📞
— Faithful Facts (@FactsFaithful) March 24, 2022
Translation: Throw in an extra million or two in my deal
— JD (@JDizzle112086) March 24, 2022
https://t.co/4b7qsjsdB7 pic.twitter.com/eSwEkuW02H
— 🏁🏁🏁🏁 (@LakersAreRad) March 24, 2022
Regardless of what the holdup is, the general feeling was that Gronkowski will return. And to be fair, that’s well founded.
In a video posted to Twitter by his barber, Gronkowski said “there’s a very good chance” that he’ll come back, joking that he’ll come back after he gives Brady “a little scare.”
Is he coming back or not! #yeaheis 😂💪🙏😂@ZacOnTheMic @TKras @gregauman pic.twitter.com/bzhQwx7FBz
— alan villa (@amvilla29) March 16, 2022
Gronkowski missed five games during the 2021 season, so it might seem as though he’s slowing down. But his 55 receptions and 802 receiving yards were the most he’d had in a season since 2017 (though he was retired for the 2019 season).
