Buccaneers draft fallout hints at Rob Gronkowski’s future

The events of the NFL Draft for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and what followed hinted at Rob Gronkowski‘s future with the Buccaneers.

The cat and mouse game between Gronk and the Bucs has been going on pretty much since the 2021 NFL season came to a close. Tom Brady‘s retirement/on retirement saga didn’t really help matters, and now the future Hall of Fame tight end’s football future remains up in the air.

While it’s certainly possible that this whole thing ends up with Gronkowski back in a Buccaneers uniform, and it’s perfectly reasonable to hope for the best, it’s just as reasonable to get a little annoyed with each passing day this continues.

Fortunately, Jason Licht in the Buccaneers front office were proactive during the draft, and prepared like Cameron Brate and Cody McElroy are the only tight ends on the roster, because well, they legitimately are.

During the draft, the Bucs pulled the trigger on selecting Cade Otton from Washington in the fourth round, and followed it up with the selection of Ko Kieft from Minnesota with their final pick in the seventh and final round. Now, the Buccaneers will have four tight ends on the roster entering OTA‘s, with Gronkowski being the potential fifth. This way they have some wiggle room, and a solid starter in Brate should they have to go that route. He’s not Gronkowski, and honestly who is, but there are far worse scenarios.

The Bucs drafting a tight end was essentially inevitable, but the fact that they doubled up in the draft may hint that they aren’t holding their breath on a Gronk return.

What Gronkowski said after the draft, may speak louder volumes in regards to his future with the Buccaneers.

Gronkowski was speaking with the media with old teammate Julian Edelman, and said, albeit in a joking tone, that he would play another full season if the Buccaneers were to sign Edelman. Now, Gronk doesn’t exactly take much seriously outside of football, and that’s perfectly fine, although he’s never exactly been the most cryptic speaker. Even if it was a joke, surely there was a bit of truth to it. Then again who knows? The way this NFL offseason has been going both former New England Patriots very well may end up joining Brady in Tampa Bay.

At the end of the day, nobody really knows anything about what the future holds for Rob Gronkowski and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However given what’s transpired over the last few days, we may have a little bit more of an idea, and it may not be the scenario that fans were hoping for. Life goes on.