This whole situation is weird. Gronk is now un-retired and will be joining Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. That’s a real sentence explaining a very real situation. Before I continue, can I just make one quick plea? Can we quit it with players un-retiring? It’s confusing and quite frankly a little mean to fans who gave heartfelt goodbyes, and it also means you lied to us all when you said it was time for you to hang up your cleats.
Now, I wholeheartedly believe that Gronk wanted to retire and stay retired after Super Bowl 53. His body was in incredible pain, and one bad hit away from not being able to feel his legs. I believe that Gronk thought Tom Brady would retire a Patriot, and that would be the end of that story. Rob Gronkowski has said multiple times in several different interviews that New England is a very tough place to play, and with his back issues, I don’t exactly blame him for wanting out of a team that doesn’t show too much mercy.
I’ll preface this next statement by saying I know very little about the coaching style in Tampa Bay, but it’s looking like while Tom Brady is the quarterback for the Buccaneers, he will likely be running the show. With that kind of environment, Gronk might be able to survive another season or two.
But what did the Patriots get in return for arguably the greatest tight end of all time? A 4th round draft pick. In retrospect, that’s not terrible collateral for a player you thought would stay retired. This draft is proving to be one of the most important in recent memory for New England. A promising quarterback (I haven’t seen enough of Stidham to make a judgement call on him), tight ends (plural), offensive linemen, pass rushers, a kicker (or two)… these are the most pressing and obvious needs of a now seemingly depleted Patriots roster. This is the most uncertain I’ve been about the upcoming season of the New England Patriots my entire life. Maybe I don’t have a legitimate reason to be uncertain, but time will tell.
Gronk, you literally were able to ride off into the sunset after making the play to win you the Super Bowl. I sincerely hope this is worth it.

 

 

P.S. Please don’t go anywhere Edelman

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