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The future Hall-of-Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski plans on retiring, per Jordan Schultz. The four time Super Bowl winner was retired, but Tom Brady dragged him out of retirement to play for Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he won his last Super Bowl two season ago.
Gronkowski is considered by many to be the best tight end of all time and is a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. Back injuries caused him to retire and miss the 2019 season, but rest and a new opportunity with his QB lured him back to the NFL to play with the Bucs.
In the end, he’ll have caught 621 passes for 9,286 yards and a whopping 93 touchdowns in nine seasons. He won’t reach the longevity numbers of Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez, but will be considered the most dominant tight end of his era.
The Buccaneers appeared to be waiting for Gronkowski to come back for another year, but this move does leave them thin at tight end. Cameron Brate is the only tight end left on the team who has played meaningful snaps in the NFL.