You probably assumed that Rob Gronkowski was a lock to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After all, Gronkowski has spent the entirety of his Hall of Fame career catching passes from Tom Brady, and the pair has earned four Super Bowl rings together.

In the words of Lee Corso: Not so fast.

Gronkowski came out of retirement last spring and signed a one-year deal with Tampa. During an appearance on The Ringer's 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt, Gronk told the host that he'll be looking to ink another one-year contract during his upcoming free agency.

While Tampa remains the heavy front-runner for his services, he isn't completely against exploring his options.

ā€œI definitely want to be back with the Buccaneers. Thatā€™s where my eyesight is. Thatā€™s where Iā€™m leaning toward, big time,ā€ Rob Gronkowski told Brandt. ā€œBut with the free agency process, you just never know what may happen. Thereā€™s some other teams interested out there, too. Iā€™ve also never been a part of the free agency process, so I actually want to dip my toes in, just to see whatā€™s out there.ā€

The 31-year-old is hitting free agency for the first time in his career.

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ā€œItā€™s pretty rare to see someone to ever even finish a contract in the NFL, so that was pretty special there,ā€ he said. ā€œBut Iā€™ve never been a free agent before, but Iā€™m planning on being a free agent after every season. I feel like Iā€™m a one-year deal guy for the rest of my career ā€” even if I play 10 more years. Iā€™m going to be a one-year deal guy, a free agent every year, and just control my destiny every year.ā€

You can watch the clip below:

Tampa has roughly $10 million in cap space left after restructuring Brady's contract and re-signing defensive end Shaquil Barrett for up to $72 million.

Rob Gronkowski, who turns 31 later this month, started all 16 games for the Buccaneers in 2020. He caught 45 passes for 623 yards with seven touchdowns, and he scored two TDs in Super Bowl LIV.