The New England Patriots sustained a major loss this offseason, as legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski decided to retire. The Patriots brought back an old friend in Ben Watson to try and replace him, but Watson ended up getting hit with a four-game suspension.

Obviously, it is going to be very difficult for New England to find a replacement for Gronkowski, as he had been an integral part of the Pats' offense since 2010 and is one of the best tight ends to ever play the game.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady understands this, but he is prepared to go to battle with the guys he has on the roster:

“To replace great players, it’s not like you just pick another one off the tight end tree. You can’t just go out back,” Brady said, per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “You’ve got to find guys that come in and want to put the work in and want to try and contribute. Between the guys we have out here now, which is Ben, and Matt (LaCosse), Stephen (Anderson), Ryan Izzo, Lance (Kendricks) who we just got — those guys are trying to do everything they can do. They’re all new players, so we’ve got to figure out how to get them up to speed to what our expectations are, the level of competition on a daily basis.”

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Gronkowski played in 13 games this past season, hauling in 47 receptions for 682 yards and three touchdowns.

While it was clear that the injury-riddled 30-year-old was a shell of himself, he was still better than many other tight ends in the league, and when the playoffs rolled around, he stepped up in a big way, making some huge catches and helping the Patriots win their sixth Super Bowl title.

Of course, there has been plenty of speculation that Gronk could return at some point this year, but as of now, New England must operate under the assumption that he is not coming back.