Rob Gronkowski’s future in the NFL is still a bit uncertain. With Tom Brady now retired and the tight end set to hit free agency, he could go in a couple of different directions. He could elect to follow Brady and retire for the second time in his career, return to the Buccaneers, or forge a new path with another team in the NFL. If it’s that latter route he decides to go down, one team that will be calling Gronkowski is the Buffalo Bills.
Tim Graham of The Athletic reports that Buffalo is open to signing Gronkowski as a free agent if he intends to continue his career. Gronkowski is from Amherst, New York, and grew up a fan of the Bills. Now, Graham reports that there is hope in the Buffalo organization that he would be open to finishing out his career with his hometown team.
It should be noted that the 32-year-old said that he would be taking some time before ultimately deciding on his future in the NFL back in late January. With free agency set to open up in roughly two weeks, it would appear like rubber is set to meet the road in a decision from Gronkowski.
This also isn’t the first time that the Bills have pursued the tight end as he considered signing with the team last offseason before re-upping with Tampa Bay. According to reports at the time, Buffalo was offering a similar deal to the one-year, $8 million deal worth up to $10 million in incentives Gronkowski ultimately signed with the Bucs. In the end, however, he decided to stay with Brady for what proved to be the final year of his career.
If Gronkowski was to join the Bills, it’d make for quite the tight end room with Dawson Knox already on the roster. Those two would give Josh Allen quite the one-two punch at tight end, especially in the red zone.
Gronkowski originally came into the league as a second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots and would blossom into arguably the greatest tight end in league history during his time in Foxborough. Over his career, Gronkowski would particularly torment the Bills because they passed on him twice at the draft when he was coming into the league. In 16 career games against the Bills, he has totaled 74 receptions for 1,132 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those numbers are the highest of his career against any single opponent.
