The New England Patriots are set to trade tight end Rob Gronkowski to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport. The Patriots will get a fourth-round pick in exchange for Gronkowski and a seventh round pick.
Gronkowski has already passed a physical with the Buccaneers, per Rapoport. It seems the deal will soon be official, even amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gronk had been putting on weight to make return to football, but wanted to do it under the condition he played with Tom Brady in Tampa. He’ll get his wish, with Brady and Gronk logging their first season outside of New England in 2020.
Trade, pending physical: Patriots are trading TE Rob Gronkowski and a seventh-round pick to the Buccaneers for a fourth-round pick, source tells ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 21, 2020
Gronk joins a Buccaneers team which is stacked offensively. They have receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and tight ends Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard. Brady will have an embarrassment of riches, just one year after the Patriots gave him virtually no weapons in 2019.
The Patriots, meanwhile, get a fourth-round pick they didn’t expect to receive. But it’s wild to think that’s all they could get for the greatest tight end of all time. What’s more, New England clearly needed a tight end, and the Bucs now have too many. A swap of Gronk for Brate or Howard seemed like a natural solution. Instead, the Patriots’ opted for a pick swap.
Gronkowski spent the 2019 season in retirement, but had 47 catches, 682 yards and three touchdowns in his final season in New England in 2018. The season stirred up discussion of Gronk’s decline, and yet it was still a strong season when compared to both Brate and Howard’s career-highs.
— PATRIOTS WIRE
