Tom Brady is still the quarterback of the Buccaneers, with or without Rob Gronkowski on the roster
It’s easy to forget since Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski have been joined at the hip for about a decade now, but Brady has played with numerous tight ends throughout his TWO decade-plus career and has made each and every one of them better for it.
Christian Fauria, Daniel Graham, Benjamin Watson, and Martellus Bennett are just a handful of tight ends not named Rob Gronkowski that Brady has played with throughout his legendary career that may otherwise have been footnotes in NFL history if not for Brady. Heck, they may even be as it is to an extent, but with Brady, they were at least productive.
With this being the case, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the Buccaneers will feel just fine trotting out whoever they see fit out there to play tight end so long as Brady is the quarterback in Tampa Bay. Fans should feel the same way.
Fortunately, it doesn’t look like the Bucs will be trotting out any regular bums off the street to play tight end should Gronkowski decide he’s done with football, or if does return and miss time. This brings us to our third and final reason why the Buccaneers are fine chugging along while he decides his fate.