The New England Patriots sustained a major loss earlier this offseason, as longtime tight end Rob Gronkowski retired from football. Enter Ben Watson.

Gronkowski had been the Patriots' tight end since 2010, so they have not known anyone else over the last decade.

What, then, will New England do about the tight end position heading into 2019?

The Pats decided to bring back an old friend, signing Ben Watson, who spent the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Patriots from 2004 through 2009.

Watson spent the 2018 campaign with the New Orleans Saints, catching 35 passes for 400 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

The question is, what can the Patriots expect from the 38-year-old who, in 2017, came out of a brief one-year retirement?

Of course, you can say that Gronkowski was barely a shell of himself over the last couple of years anyway. In 2018, it seemed he spent more time limping and hobbling than anything else.

However, there is no denying his impact on the game. In the playoffs, he came up huge, bringing down critical catches and representing a reliable security blanket for Tom Brady.

The good thing about Watson is that he has experience with Brady, so Brady knows what he is getting. But, that being said, this is not the same athletic Watson from a decade ago. This is a much older and heavier version who probably no longer can post the 825 yards he recorded in the 2015 campaign, which preceded his one year away from the game in 2016.

Plus, Watson is already starting in the hole. He will miss the first four games of the 2019 campaign due to a PED suspension.

With the Patriots' receiver corps being incredibly thin behind Julian Edelman, Watson may have to be a reliable target for Brady. It's not as though Brady he has any other options he can trust.

Sure, there is talented rookie receiver N'Keal Harry and veterans Demaryius Thomas and Dontrelle Inman, but Harry is very raw. Thomas is coming off a torn Achilles. Inman caught just 28 passes with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018.

Plus, the tight end has always been a big part of Bill Belichick's offense, so the Pats are likely bringing in Watson with the expectation that he will produce — maybe not like Gronk, but at least something substantial.

Brady can make just about anyone look good, and the Patriots have a good enough offensive line to help with that as well, but I'm not sure how much Watson has left in the tank.

Can he even catch 50 passes anymore? It remains to be seen, but New England is almost certainly expecting Watson to provide Brady and the offense a sure-handed pass catcher who can move the chains on third downs and also serve as a red-zone threat.

With Cordarrelle Patterson and Chris Hogan departing via free agency and Josh Gordon serving an indefinite suspension of his own, the Patriots don't have much of a choice: They have to make as much use of Watson as they can, and it's up to him to live up to it.

What we can anticipate is that Watson will be a key part of the offense and will be targeted quite a bit. It's just a matter of whether he can keep up at this stage of his career.