Tom Brady Retires, What NFL Superstar’s Decision Means For Rob Gronkowski, Buccaneers Future?

Tom Brady’s retirement announcement has thrust his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammate, Rob Gronkowski, further into the spotlight.

On Saturday, the NFL announced the quarterback would be retiring following 22 seasons. The announcement was released days after Brady appeared in a second campaign for the Buccaneers as defending Super Bowl champions.

However, the team lost to Los Angeles Rams in the NFC semifinals, which ruined their chance to return to the Super Bowl.

Brady has won a total of seven Super Bowl wins, six with the New England Patriots in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, and 2019, and once with the Buccaneers in 2021.

Throughout his lengthy career, Brady has made NFL history, including becoming the only player to be the Super Bowl MVP five times and named the league’s top regular-season player three times. Brady retires with 84,520 yards and 624 touchdowns.

Earlier in the week, Gronkowski told TMZ he did not decide whether he would return for a 12th season in the NFL. However, he said if he had to answer immediately, he would decline.

“If they’re like, ‘Rob, you've got to decide right now, right this second if you’re playing next year,’ I would say no right now. It’s two days after the season. I’d be like, ‘No, I’m not playing,’” he told the outlet.

“You’ve got to give it some time, you’ve got to rest to see how everything goes, to see how everything plays out, how I feel. I just want to heal completely, see where my thoughts are from there then.”

Following the report that Brady reportedly has no plans on returning, NFL fans took to Twitter speculating whether Gronkowski would follow his teammate since they both came to the Buccaneers from the Patriots.

“You gotta think Gronk is retiring too right? Weren’t they a package deal?” one person wrote.

Another person suggested Gronkowski would retire before the weekend was over. “Gronk announcing his retirement by tomorrow,” the individual wrote.

During his 11 year career, Gronkowski has won four Super Bowls rings and earned five Pro Bowl nods. If he were to retire, Gronkowski would finish with 9,286 yards, 92 touchdowns, and 621 catches in the regular season.