Tight end Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady won four Super Bowl titles together during their time with the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady and Gronkowski won three Lombardi trophies with the Patriots in nine years and captured one Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers in 2000. After his second year with the Buccaneers, Gronkowski retired, leaving Brady without a top tight end last season. Without Gronkowski, the Buccaneers lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card round. During his appearance on "FOX NFL Sunday", Gronkowski said as of now, Brady is unsure where he will land in Week 1 of the 2023 season, but he declared he’s convinced that his long-time quarterback will return for his 24th NFL season.
“He's probably getting some treatment on his arm as we speak right now, so he's gonna be ready to go next year,” said Gronkowski, adding that Brady can play still play the game. "He was top five in passing yards last season. He can still play the game," he added.
In a previous interview, Gronkowski said that he doesn’t think that Brady would return for another tour of duty with the Patriots, where he won six Super Bowl titles in 20 seasons. This time, Gronkowski said he’s convinced that Brady will look for a situation that intrigues him the most. It was reported that several teams have already expressed interest in pursuing Brady when he officially becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season, among them are the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Buccaneers are also interested in bringing him back for his fourth season, but there were reports that Brady already said goodbye to some of his teammates after their loss to the Cowboys. Even Brady’s former Patriots teammate, wide receiver Julian Edelman, said he believes that the quarterback won’t return to the Buccaneers.
McCourty willing to play for another year if Brady returns to New England
Long-time Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty also weighed in on Brady’s next move, per NBC Sports. McCourty earlier declared that he’s leaning towards retirement, but could return to the Patriots if Brady returns to New England next season "What I want him to do, go back to New England.
I'll go back too if he goes," said McCourty, who won three Super Bowl rings with Brady as quareback. If that doesn’t materialize as the Patriots currently have Mac Jones as their starting signal-caller, McCourty expressed his belief that the next ideal landing place for Brady is the Tennessee Titans. "He's going to keep playing. I think a team like the Titans," McCourty explained, adding that Tennessee is not too far from Brady’s family around the East Coast.
