Rob Gronkowski makes bold statement about he and Tom Brady's former team

Former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski made a bold statement about his former team and their QB situation. Tom Brady officially retired for good following the 2022 NFL season, and his most recent team, the Buccaneers, were put in an awkward situation.

And honestly, it's not clear whether they are rebuilding or trying to compete at this point. They signed Baker Mayfield in free agency to compete with Kyle Trask for the starting QB job, and former Bucs' tight end Rob Gronkowski, who won a SB with Brady in Tampa Bay, seems to think that Mayfield is going to win this job:

"“I think Baker will win the quarterback position,” Gronkowski said. “I think he’ll be the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Bucs going into the season. The only way I see the Bucs pulling him is if he just absolutely plays horrendous, which I don’t think he will.”"

- Rob Gronkowski

Gronk seems higher on Mayfield than most, and honestly, I am a bit puzzled that the Bucs didn't prepare for Brady's departure better. Trask is a huge unknown in the NFL, and the Bucs did have a high enough pick to be able to move up to select a potential successor. They ended up taking Calijah Kancey in the first round instead of a QB.

Brady played for the Bucs from 2020-2022. He threw for 14,643 yards, 108 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions during his time in Tampa. He also won the Super Bowl in 2020 playing alongside Gronk.

Gronk did have two very good seasons in Tampa during his age-31 and 32 seasons. During those two seasons, he ended up catching 100 passes for 1,425 yards and 13 touchdowns, proving to still be very effective.

The Bucs enjoyed those three years of the Brady era, but now they are in a totally different spot. Their recent Super Bowl win should buy them some time to figure out their situation, as I think a full rebuild will eventually be necessary. They do have many veterans who are getting up there in age, but also do have some young, solid core pieces to build around.

I do not think Baker Mayfield is going to play all that great, and I think we'll see Tampa Bay picking very high in the 2024 NFL Draft.