As first reported by Adam Schefter from ESPN late Tuesday afternoon, Rob Gronkowski has decided to come of retirement and will be joining Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The deal is pending upon a physical. Tampa Bay will receive the rights to Gronkowski and a seventh round pick in the NFL draft this year, while New England in exchange gets a fourth round pick.
Gronkowski, who announced his offical retirement from New England on March 24, 2019, reportedly told the Patriots he wanted to return to the NFL but wanted his rights to be traded to play with his former teammate Brady in Tampa. He last played on February 3, 2019 in a 13-3 Super Bowl LIII win over the Los Angeles Rams, where he set up the only touchdown of the game and finished with six receptions for 87 yards. Since his retirement, the star tight end has been an analyst for FOX on NFL Sundays and also appeared in the WWE with most recently Wrestlemania in Orlando, Florida.
For his career, Gronk has played 115 games and has 521 receptions for 7,861 yards and 79 touchdowns. He has only lost four fumbles over his nine seasons, and battled through several serious injuries. Reuniting Gronkowski and Brady could make Tampa Bay one of the early NFC South and Super Bowl favorites. He will not only join his former teammate who he helped win two Super Bowls in Foxborough, he will team up with other star tight ends Cameron Brate and OJ Howard along with star wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Goodwin.
