Rob Gronkowski could make a sensational return to the NFL in 2023 to team up with Tom Brady once more, reports suggest. Gronkowski retired from the NFL in 2022, but recently hinted he wanted to return to the sport.
The 33-year-old is considered the greatest tight end of all time, and many felt he still had more to give when he walked away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier in the year. And now, he could make an emotional comeback for the 2023 season, with reports linking him with the Raiders.
Brady, his long-term team-mate and friend, is expected to quit the Buccaneers next year and move teams for the 2023 season, which will be his 23rd in the league. The Raiders are said to be his first choice, though a return to the New England Patriots could be on the cards.
The Raiders recently benched quarterback Derek Carr for the rest of the season, placing him as inactive for the final two games of the year. His back-up and third-string quarterbacks have now leapfrogged him in the depth chart, and a departure in the summer seems inevitable.
As a result, Vegas will be looking for a new star at the quarterback position, and fewer could fit the bill better than Brady. The 45-year-old knows head coach Josh McDaniels from their shared time at the Patriots, where McDaniels was offensive coordinator.
Yahoo Sports columnist Charles Robinson suggested on Friday that the Raiders make the most sense for Brady if he were to leave the Buccaneers on Friday, and that Gronkowski is mulling over a return to the gridiron in 2023.
Brady is said to have been interested in joining the Raiders back in 2020, when he left the Patriots and was searching for a new team.
If Gronkowski was to return, he would likely want to team up with Brady once again, considering the two won four Super Bowl rings together.
His last contract was a one-year deal with the Buccaneers in 2021, which expired when he retired in June 2022, meaning he'd be free to negotiate with any team he wished to as a free agent if he were to return.
