The Tampa Bay Buccaneers landed legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski in a trade with the New England Patriots on Tuesday, sending a fourth-round draft pick to the Patriots in return.
This definitely came out of left field, as there had been no indications that Gronkowski was thinking of making a comeback.
Obviously, this will reunite Gronk with Tom Brady, but in the bright Tampa sun rather than snowy Foxborough.
Here are three expectations for Gronkowski in his first season with the Buccaneers:
3. He will get O.J. Howard traded
After acquiring Rob Gronkowski, Tampa Bay now has Gronk, O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate at tight end.
It's hard to see the Bucs entering the season with all three of those guys on the roster.
Howard seems like the most obvious trade candidate, as he is more talented than Brate and was actually pretty disappointing for the Buccaneers in 2019, so the club will probably be open to moving him.
In the right situation, though, Howard could potentially flourish. He has all of the tools to be a good NFL tight end. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to play with a consistent quarterback just yet.
Of course, Howard was about to experience that for the first time with Brady, but now that Gronkowski is on board, it seems like Howard will be a prime trade candidate throughout the NFL Draft.
2. He will represent Tom Brady's security blanket
You can see why Brady wanted Rob Gronkowski aboard.
Gronkowski is a trusted target who had been reliably catching passes from Brady from 2010 through 2018, winning a pair of Super Bowls with him (remember: Gronk was injured when the Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons in the 2016-17 Super Bowl).
Even before Gronkowski's arrival, Brady already had quite the set of weapons in Tampa Bay, ranging from Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to Howard (who is probably a goner now) and Brate.
But the thing is, as talented as those guys are, Brady has not developed a camaraderie with any of them yet.
Gronkowski's presence will allow Brady to get comfortable and settle in, providing him with a security blanket on third downs and in big moments.
1. He will bring much-needed experience
Here's the thing: I'm not sure exactly how much Gronkowski is going to produce on the stat sheet.
He turns 31 years old next month, and he retired for a reason. He was dealing with a myriad of injury issues, and he had missed ample time throughout his career because of them.
But one thing is for sure: Gronk will bring a much-needed veteran presence to the locker room and the pass-catching corps.
Outside of Brady and Ndamukong Suh, the Buccaneers are largely an inexperienced group. This franchise as a whole has not been to the playoffs in 12 years, so contending will be uncharted territory for Tampa Bay.
It's one thing to have Brady guiding you along, but when you add another champion who is a.) familiar with Brady, and b.) knows what it takes to win in this league in Gronkowski, you're that much better off.
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