The New England Patriots weren’t actually on the verge of trading star tight end Rob Gronkowski as a popular trade rumor suggested a few weeks ago. But as it turns out, the Pats really were shopping Gronk just a few days ahead of the NFL Draft.
In an appearance on “The Herd With Colin Cowherd,” The MMQB’s Albert Breer shed some more light on who those teams involved in the trade talks — and had certain “connections” to the Patriots — were:
“I don’t think they were shopping Gronk to the entire league, but there were some teams they trust that I know they talked to. Detroit, Tennessee, Houston, San Francisco — you guys can make the connections there,” Breer said.
Those “connections” come in the form of former Patriots players, coaches, and front office personnel now working for those teams. The Lions have Matt Patricia and GM Bob Quinn; the Texans have Bill O’Brien; and the Titans have Mike Vrabel and GM Jon Robinson.
The 49ers don’t have the same close ties to the franchise, but Bill Belichick still decided to trade them Jimmy Garoppolo last season, so there’s obviously a good relationship there.
Breer also confirmed that the desire for a new contract was the main reason for Gronk being so disgruntled this offseason. His disgruntled behavior, in turn, caused Belichick and the Pats to kick the tires on a potential trade.
But when Gronkowski sat down with Belichick to commit to 2018, they decided to ditch their plans of trading him and focused on working out a new deal. That new deal for Gronk is reported to be “likely,” but “nothing imminent.”
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