The New England Patriots finally know where they stand with All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. Following months of uncertainty, Gronkowski recently met with head coach Bill Belichick to tell him he is returning for the 2018 NFL season.
Although it appears Gronkowski may have been seriously considering walking away from the game, the perennial Pro Bowler returning to suit up for the Patriots for at least one more year may have been motivated by something unexpected. Peter King of MMQB has a theory about why the future Hall of Famer may have decided to come back to New England.
I have a theory. It’s just a theory. What if Gronkowski found out the Patriots weren’t going to fall all over themselves to beg him to come back for one more year, and what if they told him they needed to know his intentions about playing before this draft, or they could not guarantee what they would do with him in 2018? Look at Bill Belichick’s history. If he could get a 2018 or 2019 second-round pick for a player who has a year or two left, he’s shown he’s not above dealing anyone. I don’t know what was behind the rapprochement, but Belichick has shown he can kick Lawyer Milloy to the curb, and send Richard Seymour and Logan Mankins and Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins packing. It’s an interesting story, and I don’t know that we’ll ever know all of it.
With Belichick notoriously trading star players well before they start to decline, it comes as no surprise there'd be speculation about Gronkowski potentially heading elsewhere in a trade. When healthy, there's no better tight end in the game. Gronkowski is hands down the NFL's elite player at the position, but he's struggled to stay healthy throughout his entire career.
Fortunately for the veteran tight end, the team seems to have assured him he won't be traded in 2018, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Patriots’ TE Rob Gronkowski and his agent Drew Rosenhaus met today with Bill Belichick, and told him that Gronkowski is playing this season for the Patriots.
“It was very positive and Rob is committed,” Rosenhaus said.
There will be no Gronkowski trade this season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2018
Now that Gronkowski is back in the fold, it'll be interesting to see how New England plans to remain a heavyweight in the AFC next season after the departure of so many players on both sides of the football. The team recently traded wideout Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams and saw a few of their best players leave the team in free agency with Danny Amendola, Nate Solder, Dion Lewis, and Malcolm Butler suiting up elsewhere next season.
At this point, it's still hard to count the Patriots out after so many successful seasons, but there's no guarantee they'll be the same dominant force in 2018.
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