Rob Gronkowski Discussed Return With Buccaneers Last Month

According to Rick Stroud, former Buccaneers TE Rob Gronkowski contacted the Buccaneers around Thanksgiving to discuss a potential return to the NFL. 

Obviously Gronkowski isn’t playing right now, so it’s clear discussions didn’t progress far enough. Stroud says Gronkowski had been working out and was in shape, and the two sides had several conversations. 

There was discussion of signing Gronkowski to the practice squad to give him time to get back into football shape but ultimately Gronkowski elected to stay retired. 

“It was more of a conversation than anything else,” Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles said. “Usually, when you have to think about playing, you probably don’t want to play. When it’s just a discussion, I didn’t think much of it at the time.”

There’s been a lot of speculation about Tampa Bay and Gronkowski dating back to September but neither side seemed to view it as particularly likely for a while. 

Gronkowski, 33, is a former second-round pick of the Patriots back in 2010. He was in the sixth year of his eight-year, $55.23 million contract that included $13.17 million guaranteed when he made the decision to retire in 2019. 

The Buccaneers later acquired Gronkowski in a trade with the Patriots in 2020. He returned to the Bucs on a one-year, $10 million contract last year. 

For his career, Gronkowski appeared in 143 games over 11 seasons with the Patriots and Buccaneers. He recorded 621 receptions for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns.

Gronkowski was a five-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro, the 2014 comeback player of the year and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade team for the 2010s.