In the hours prior to Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions, there had been reports to surface that the New England Patriots had a potential deal on the table to move Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski to the Detroit Lions.

In response to that chatter, Gronkowski voiced after the contest that he would have threatened to retire if he was traded from the Patriots because of his desire to play with Tom Brady. It didn't take long for Brady to weigh in on that chatter during a recent interview on WEEI as he voiced much praise toward the 29-year-old along with his happiness that he has had him in the fold for the last eight years. (h/t Tyler Sullivan of 247 Sports)

“I don’t want to get into any hypotheticals and things like that. I have played with him for a long time,” he said, as transcribed by WEEI.com. “I think so highly of him as a player, as a person, as a friend, as a teammate and I am lucky to play with such a great player and someone who I just love being out there with. [He is] such a great competitor with what he’s fought through over the course of his career. Nothing short of a miracle in a lot of ways. … I love playing with Gronk. I am happy he is on our team. I am happy he’s playing for us and I know he’s worked hard to have a great year, and we all have to improve. He’s a guy that I really count on and rely on to be a great player for us week in and week out.”

The pairing of Brady and Gronkowski has been the lone constant for the franchise over nearly the last decade in the passing game. Although the Pro Bowl tight end has had his struggles with injuries, he has been a huge factor as one of the primary targets for Brady that has led to him to notch 76 total career touchdowns with him, which is the second-most from a quarterback to a tight end in NFL history.

Both players are currently on contracts that run through the 2019 campaign that should keep them together for the next two years. Brady has stated on multiple occasions that he wants to play another five more years while Gronkowski's desire to continue to work alongside him should keep him in the fold through the duration of his contract if he doesn't choose to retire.

Nonetheless, this shows the type of strong bond that both Brady and Gronkowski have built over the last several years that has seemingly tied their futures in New England together moving forward.