Tom Brady's retirement almost pushed Rob Gronkowski to join Patriots' rivals

Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are joined at the hip. The two superstars have been inseparable since the New England Patriots landed the tight end in 2011. Gronkowski even came out of retirement to join Brady in Tampa to play for the Buccaneers and help the quarterback win his seventh Super Bowl ring.

Gronkowski was at a crossroads when Brady announced that he was retiring from the NFL at the end of the 2021 season. Multiple teams were pursuing the tight end, but only one enticed him enough to consider continuing to play.

Rob Gronkowski considered joining Buffalo Bills

During an appearance on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, Rob Gronkowski revealed:

"Now I'm retired again. So I want to bring this back up. I'm kind of a Buffalo Bills fan. Now again, I'm not playing no more. And I thought about it like how cool that would be to play for the Buffalo Bills. I actually thought about it.

"I didn't really feel like playing football again after this year. And I was like, 'Ahh, Tom retired. Let me, I'm gonna check out some other teams.' I was actually in talks with the Buffalo Bills a little bit. They wanted me to come up there. And it just wasn't there. If my mindset was there I would, I would probably most likely be in Buffalo right now playing with the Bills."

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Eventually, Gronkowski did not join the Bills, and Brady returned for his third season with the Buccaneers. However, the tight end decided to remain retired. Tampa undoubtedly missed his production on the field as they limped to an 8-9 record in the regular season.

The Bills offense is already among the best in the league, and it could have been even more potent had Rob Gronkowski decided to join the team he supported. But the stars never aligned for a deal for the tight end to land in Buffalo, and the rest of the NFL is glad they didn't.