TAMPA, Fla. — As the world continues assessing the sincerity of Rob Gronkowski’s departure from football, Bucs management evidently is approaching it the same way it did with Tom Brady’s retirement announcement.
Which is to say, the team is leaving that figurative front porch light on for the Canton-bound tight end should he change his mind.
Such was the message from general manager Jason Licht when asked Thursday if the Bucs would find room on the roster if Gronk — who represents $5 million in dead cap money to Tampa Bay this year — were to call.
“I don’t want to deal with hypotheticals,” Licht said following Thursday morning’s practice. “But we all know Gronk is a hell of a player. It would be hard to turn down.”
Gronkowski was among a number of topics addressed by Licht during his session, when he also was asked about Kyle Trask, new receiver Julio Jones and Brady the recruiter.
On the process of getting Jones to Tampa:
“Well, it’s a scenario that we’ve talked about for a while, going back to (organized team activities) and when he was released (from the Titans) — that if it made sense to potentially pursue it. Talked periodically with his agent all summer; I know Tom and Julio had talked, and then it just kind of came to fruition here in the last couple of days.”
On the Brady factor in recruiting free agents:
“Oh it’s huge. I think any GM with an established veteran quarterback has an advantage, but when you have Tom Brady — who’s the greatest — it’s even more of an advantage. And I’m never going to apologize for using him to help me bring in players for this team.”
Does he converse with Brady during the recruitment of free agents?
“If I’m thinking about a player, if we are as a staff, I’ll give him a call and see if he can help us out. And he’s always willing to do it.”
On the notion that bringing in so many prominent veterans seems like a 'video game' (as tackle Tristan Wirfs called it):
“I never really thought of it as a video game. I just think of it as having a lot of great players and trying to make a push this year to win another Super Bowl and doing whatever we can for that.”
On veteran defensive tackle Akiem Hicks (who signed in May):
“He had some unfortunate injuries last year that ended his season early, but he’s healthy now. And he has come in, he’s a big man, he’s very athletic, he’s very powerful. He’s got very good quickness for his size, and he’s been a great addition to that room. He’s a veteran leader, he’s a very mature guy and everybody has been very high on him since he’s been here. I think he’s going to have a hell of a year.”
On how it makes him feel when new arrivals talk about wanting to be part of the Bucs’ culture:
“It’s humbling. It’s awesome. That’s what we aspire to, and that was our goal a long time ago. It’s all about the culture, and when you add a player like Tom, that certainly helps. And it resonates throughout the whole building, and will, I think, continue to resonate for years to come.”
His assessment of the kick-return competition:
“That’s going to be kind of ongoing right now. We think Jaelon (Darden) has shown a lot of improvement from last year. We’ve got some young guys that are going to compete for that. We’ve got Gio (Bernard), who’s done a nice job for us in the past. So there’s going to be a lot of work there to see what shakes out, who’s going to be the best one for us.”
Does he have to find out more about second-year quarterback Kyle Trask this preseason?
“We definitely, one of our goals is to find out as much as we can about Kyle during the preseason.”
