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Tampa Bay Buccaneers star tight end Rob Gronkowski walked away from the NFL for the second time this offseason. His beloved teammate, with whom he has played every season, Tom Brady, did the same. But then Brady changed his mind only 40 days later.
Rob Gronkowski maintains that he's not coming back to the league, but there's always a chance. He is only 33 years old and has done it once already. Rumors have been circulating around the tight end's future since the 2021 season ended. It seems his retirement has done nothing but add fuel to the fire.
Skip Bayless spoke on Undisputed and he believes the tight end should reconsider his decision:
"I'm just going on my gut feeling. This is such a golden opportunity for Rob Gronkowski to win yet another ring with one of his closest friends. It's just fun... It's why you have some regret to this day that you're not still playing. Some regret because you miss that thing about it."
Brady is the tight end's best friend and both are still able to play at a very high level. Bayless thinks there are a lot of reasons for Gronkowski to return to the NFL:
"You miss winning with the fellas, you miss the camaraderie in the locker room, you miss Sunday's, you miss playoff games. It's just- you can't replace it in your life. None. And he knows that because he's tried to replace it in his life."
He also believes that Gronkowski's previous return indicates that he still wants to play:
"He's tried a couple of times now to pull away. And it's hard to pull away because nothing else you can do, can capture the ultimate joy that this can give you. And your close friends with the greatest quarterback who ever played who's still playing at age 45 in a warm weather city... I think it'll, it'll just be a little smoother ride this time than it was with Bruce Arians."
Bayless makes valid points here. Rob Gronkowski's love of the game has brought him back before, and though he's older, it could do it again one last time.
What the Buccaneers can do without Rob Gronkowski
The tight end, for all intents and purposes, is retired and will not be in Tampa Bay this year. Though that could still change, the Buccaneers will have to prepare themselves for the 2022 season without him. So where does that leave his former team?
Well, they just signed Kyle Rudolph to take his place. He's not a future Hall of Famer, but he will do nicely in lieu of the former Patriots tight end. Rudolph played for the Minnesota Vikings for 10 seasons and accumulated 4,888 yards and 48 touchdowns. He had a down year at the New York Giants, recording 257 yards and one touchdown. He will doubtless be excited to join Tom Brady and add some serious numbers in 2022.
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They still have Tom Brady and a wide receiver room of Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and Russell Gage. Combined with their impressive running game boasting Leonard Fournette and the Buccaneers offense is tough to stop.
Tampa Bay will be fine without Rob Gronkowski, they truly will. But they would definitely be better with him onboard. It will be interesting to see if anything changes with the tight end's playing status before the season kicks off.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Undisputed and H/T Sportskeeda
