breaking news Rob Gronkowski is a Tampa Bay Buccaneer no really I’m not kidding you Rob Gronkowski is coming out of retirement and the Patriots have agreed to terms on a deal that would send him to Tampa to be reunited with Tom Brady Patriots Ian Rapoport here who got this ball rolling on the breaking news earlier in the day.
the Patriots see Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski play in Tampa for the Buccaneers and they get back a fourth-round pick now I realize Brady was a free agent but I can see the reaction right now in from Patriots fans drunk for a fourth-round pick
Wow, it’s actually not even that it’s Gronk and a seven for a fourth-round it’s actually about what the Seahawks and Raiders agreed to when it was a Marshawn Lynch trade going from Seattle to the Raiders a late-round pick
for a player kind of at the end retired coming out of retirement the historical sense here puts this right around the ballpark of where it should remember this is not Rob Gronkowski from five or six years ago but still it is still Gronkowski
it still may be the greatest tight end to ever play football who now is expected to come back and play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady as far as the specifics of the trade here’s where we know Gronk and a seven to the Bucs in exchange for a fourth-rounder in this draft funk also I’m told has taken a physical so there’s no issues there this all means that the trade should happen Gronk should be back.
the Patriots now have extra traffic great Brady gets his guy Gronk gets his quarterback all of these things happen today Andrew alright so the Buccaneer said to fourth-round picks 117 their own pick and which was a compensatory pick Ian do we know how long this has been in the works I know during house B often you know drops little hands yeah maybe.
I’ll come back and play football but do we know if last month when Brady talked it over with Jason lied and Bruce Arians had made the decision to leave New England a go-to Tampa was this was Gronk part of the conversation this has been something that it’s been in Tom Brady’s head for a very long time and I know that Brady has sort of confided in people that he would love to have Gronk back it’s just a matter of is this gonna be better for grunt than retirement life
which is so fun because you don’t get hit and Gronk has told me came on the rap sheet and Friends podcast a couple months ago and told me how great his body felt it’s about to start feeling a little different however we also know he’s not coming back for anyone besides Tom Brady as far as when the actual trade talks been going on I know it’s really just a matter of the last couple days this thing really percolated and obviously today it really hit a crescendo
here and this should come together officially in the next 24 hours ago I would expect wrong to say something publicly pretty soon as well all right Gronk said a little bit yesterday he was on Vandy Cohen and left the door open a little bit and then today Ian with the news Rob Gronkowski out of retirement he turns 31 in three weeks and he is getting traded from New England to Tampa to be reunited with Tom Brady it’s a 7 & a 4 the patriots’ chip in a 7 the Bucs give them a 4 Steve Smith senior
Steve Mariucci Charles Davis with me now on NFL Total Access crap preview mooks start with you we talked before about Super Bowl or bust for the Patriots I’m sorry for the Bucs that’s why you get Tom Brady are they a favorite now Brady and Gronk and Mike Evans and Godwin and Bruce Arians calling plays
I mean come on it’s yes come on it’s a good team now very good team very competitive now if you ask drew brees and Matt Ryan and those guys that go come on you bring it on this is gonna be a heck of a division but here’s the thing when I’m looking at it’s all kind of makes some sense when grog came out of college at Arizona he had a back injury and he that’s why he slipped to the second round
and so there were health concerns from day one when he entered into the league and this guy was so busy catching balls over the middle he took a lot of hits man I mean he’s had knees and backs and ribs and you name it he took a lot of hits very productive but you know what last year his pocket-book wanted him to come back the fans wanted him to come back the team wanted him he wanted to play loves football you know
he has a lot of fun being in the limelight but his body was saying I can’t do this anymore I’m beating up I just can’t do this anymore Steve mentioned it earlier and you know what after taking over a year off I think your body starts to recover and feel better and all of a sudden it’s like hey I’m waking up in the morning without any pain maybe I’m ready to go that was a good reboot so this guy has refreshed he’s energized he’s ready to go and yeah
he’s got a chance to play with his BFF Tom Brady guys almost feel like I should be singing but I will spare you all okay but somewhere peaches and herb are busting out reunited right now and it does feel so good and by the way, the poor Buccaneers in ticket office that just recovered from Tom Brady and here comes grok right back at it the phone Lizer is going at an Internet but here’s the thing both of them seemingly have expressed
the idea that being somewhere else is invigorating, yes Gronk coming out of retirement getting his body right you guys have made that point so well Tom Brady simply choosing to want to be somewhere else when I worked at Stanford University I worked for an athletic director named Ted Leland and he was a gardener and he used to tell me all the time at a certain stage of your life after so much time you need to report yourself plant yourself somewhere
else Riaan greet yourself both of them have that opportunity now both of them have it right in front of them and on a team that has a chance to win
Byron Leftwich can’t wait to draw up plays for these guys along with Bruce Arians now Todd Bowles without offense more responsibility for the defense now and they’ll get other guys they can’t wait to play there and last but not least wraps are gonna tell us later what happens to the WWE title belt and we got to find out it’s Jordan Leggett you’ve got a hold to grok up for some money for number 87 I have no idea we were talking about all that with each other going obviously Charles, not about my wrestling whatsoever
but I hear you say go ahead Steve Manuel all of this going on and any Rappaport reporting this and a few minutes later the man I haven’t seen a transaction happen this fast is probably the last time I mistakenly did not pay my cable bill they didn’t send me anything they just cut my just cut the cable off and it’s happening
that fast the really crazy thing about all of this is OJ Howard is he all of a sudden trade bait what happens the old Jay Howard does he want to sit around and by this time and be the number two tight in this offense people can say all that can’t be the case you know when the Baltimore Ravens drafted Lamar Jack’s and I said that rule will not have three quarterbacks it took a little bit time put that quarterback laughing he went to Denver and now different doesn’t happen so that just lets you know when guys get picked up veterans or young guys
someone’s the odd man out we don’t know who it is yet but there’s an odd man out and the Buccaneers have become a very dangerous team literally overnight mooch does this help ease the transition for Brady we talked so much about a virtual offseason and no one knows when they’re gonna be able to be in the building
or get on the field again they’re gonna get Bruce Arian’s playbook but it’s one thing to read it it’s another thing to actually go out there and do it now Gronk is there I would have to think that gives him a security blanket of sorts yeah no doubt and
I think that Bruce Arians offense will be altered quite a bit to accommodate the skill set of a Tom Brady and now a Gronk and you know Steve was talking about OJ Howard I don’t I think he’s happy as heck to be on this team he’s been there for three years without the success that he had hoped for and you know Tom Brady likes playing with 12 personnel
two tight ends and two wide receivers and just wanted running back but sometimes drunks in line and sometimes you slot sometimes he’s outside and OJ Howard is probably going yeah I like this because now I got a chance to win that’s what you know that’s
what they want to do they want to win and see if they can get a ring on their finger and now this is alt like they said it all changes the game that division now is really an interesting division drunk and Tom will be utilized to build their skill sets I mean they’re only going to be there a year or two right so they’re gonna do everything in their power to make them productive you know but you make up so many you bring up a great point there and it’s not just the security blanket for Tom Brady that Gronk provides they provide a blueprint for the res of the Buccaneers
Shout-out to my @gronknation Boston Marathon team, thank you for everything so far. Keep up the good work and stay healthy!! #BostonMarathon2020 @charityteams @johnhancockusa @GronkFitness pic.twitter.com/krXmUadEUe
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) April 21, 2020