The New England Patriots are desperately trying to replace Rob Gronkowski, and on Monday, they added another candidate to the mix.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, the Patriots have swung a trade with the Atlanta Falcons for tight end Eric Saubert, sending a conditional seventh-round draft pick to the Falcons in return.

Saubert played in all 16 games this past season, but his production was limited, as he logged just five catches for 48 yards.

The 25-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Drake University, was originally selected by Atlanta in the seventh round (174th pick overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.

He appeared in 14 contests during his rookie year, but did not log a statistic.

Saubert spent four seasons at Drake, arriving at the school in 2013 and catching 47 passes for 549 yards and a couple of touchdowns during his freshman campaign. Then, the following year, Saubert took a bit of a step back, snaring 32 balls for 348 yards and a pair of scores before registering 55 catches for 580 yards while reaching the end zone seven times during his junior season.

He then proceeded to have the best year of his collegiate career during his senior campaign, hauling in 56 receptions for 776 yards and 10 touchdowns.

After Gronkowski announced his retirement earlier this offseason, the Patriots went out and signed Ben Watson for a second go-around with the club, but later, Watson was hit with a four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drugs policy.

That left inexperienced tight ends such as Matt LaCosse — who recently picked up an injury — and Stephen Anderson battling for the starting job, and now, it appears that Saubert will be joining them in the race.