Rob Gronkowski’s agent thinks Patriots legend could return if Tom Brady calls

The NFL world collectively celebrated Rob Gronkowski’s career after the New England Patriots legend announced his retirement for the second time in less than four years via a lengthy Instagram statement on Tuesday.

It never seemed likely that Gronkowski would commit to playing another season, but Patriots fans are likely reluctant to fully buy into the notion that the four-time All-Pro tight end is definitively done with football after Tom Brady unretired less than two months after he announced his retirement in early February.

Best not to get duped twice in one offseason, right?

After all, with Brady still kicking in the NFL you can never rule out the possibility of him coaxing Gronk out of retirement. Of course, Gronkowski retired after the 2018 season before Brady convinced him to spurn retirement and force a trade from the Patriots to the Buccaneers before the 2020 campaign.

According to Gronk’s agent Drew Rosenhaus, he wouldn’t be surprised if the former Patriots teammates reunited down the road.

Rob Gronkowski’s agent thinks the former Patriots TE would come out of retirement for Tom Brady

Rosenhaus’ speculation shouldn’t surprise anyone, as Gronkowski won’t officially be done with football until Brady retires. The 44-year-old QB isn’t going to let his all-time favorite target ride off into the sunset on his own terms, especially with the Buccaneers entrenched in the Super Bowl conversation for 2022.

While the Bucs are returning a deep receiving corps with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and free-agent pickup Russell Gage, their tight end room leaves a lot to be desired with Cameron Brate and rookie fourth-rounder Cade Otton serving as the top two options after OJ Howard signed with Buffalo this offseason.

If one of Brate or Otton got injured, can’t you see Brady giving Gronkowski a call about a potential return? Even if Brate and Otton remain healthy, we wouldn’t rule out Brady ringing Gronk right before the playoffs. At 33 years old, the four-time champ likely wants nothing to do with another 17-game regular season.

In a vacuum it’d be more surprising if Gronkowski stayed retired than if he unretired for the second time to reunite with Brady in Tampa.

The most notable takeaway here is Rosenhaus’ comments about Gronk potentially teaming up with Brady in 2023. Set to turn 45 in August, Brady is entering the final year of his contract and hasn’t committed to playing next year.

Does Rosenhaus know something we don’t? Will Gronkowski stay retired? Could he and Brady join a new team in 2023? Will the Dolphins prophecy manifest itself? Nobody knows, but TB12 is a safe bet to author the next chapter.

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