The New England Patriots will be in unfamiliar territory in 2019 with Rob Gronkowski now retired. That leaves a huge hole at the tight end position and Tom Brady knows that guys are going to have to step up.

After the Patriots cut Austin-Seferian Jenkins this week, Brady stated that the tight end position needs to be a “position of strength“. New England signed Seferian-Jenkins in hopes he could help make up for the absence of Gronkowski this year.

Obviously, things weren't working out and the organization decided to part ways with the veteran tight end before training camps even begin. Therefore, that leaves New England with Benjamin Watson, Matt LaCosse, Stephen Anderson, Ryan Izzo, and Andrew Beck at tight end.

In that group though, Watson has already been suspended for the first four games of the season. Then, the other four guys have a combined 12 starts in the NFL (coming only from LaCosse and Anderson).

With the Patriots needing help at the position there are a couple of different routes they could take. First, staying with the status quo and playing with the guys they have is a possibility. After all, the Patriots tend to make names out of guys that no one has heard of before.

Second, the Patriots could dive back into the remaining free agents. Jermaine Gresham and Antonio Gates are two guys who could be receiving a call from New England before the season.

Lastly, New England could pick up the phone and make a call to the Minnesota Vikings. Kyle Rudolph is on the market with the Vikings drafting Irv Smith in this year's draft.

Regardless of what the Patriots do, they need to find a player or multiple players to make up for the lost production of Gronkowski.

The rumors of Gronkowski returning will continue to ramp up if the Patriots struggle to find his replacement.