Buccaneers adding Rob Gronkowski might not meet hype

Rob Gronkowski is back. Will he make a difference?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers believe so, trading a fourth-round pick to the New England Patriots for Gronkowski and a seventh-round choice on Monday for his rights. The 30-year-old tight end was retired in 2019 but is now reunited with quarterback Tom Brady, hoping to have another run of success.

Of course, the idea of Gronk and Brady doing business together is immensely exciting. Both are future first-ballot Hall of Famers who won three titles together. However, the hype might be outpacing reality.

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In Brady’s case, he’s 43 years old come August and he looked the part of an aging — albeit effective — star last season. As for Gronkowski, he hasn’t played 16 games in the regular season since 2012. He hasn’t played 15 since 2015. The last time we saw Gronkowski, he was excellent in the AFC playoffs and Super Bowl, but only amassed 47 catches for 682 yards and three touchdowns. He was breaking down.

Will the year off do him good or add rust? Who knows. For his part, Rob Gronkowski certainly believes the former, telling reporters during a conference call this week about his rejuvenated frame. Per NFL.com:

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“I actually woke up this morning and I was in my boxers and I weighed myself…it’s incredible, man. I’m 250, I feel good,” Gronkowski said. “My body feels good. I definitely worked over the last year too. It’s not like I’ve taken off and done nothing. I mean, at some points, there was a good month or two where I didn’t do anything. My body just needed that time to rest, needed that time to heal. I would say that I lost some weight too to take some pressure off my joints, to take some pressure off my body and I feel like it was totally the right decision.

“To put on 10 pounds to get to 260, I think will be pretty easy, if I need to get back up there which I feel like I kinda want to. It just takes a couple extra protein shakes with some extra almond butter, some extra blueberries. You just got to load it up and have a couple shakes a day on top of all your meals to put that weight back on.”

Perhaps Brady and Gronkowski go to Tampa Bay and dominate. Perhaps they show the world Bill Belichick is a great coach, but not a necessary one for them to win a title.

Or, perhaps both are the aging men many believe they are, trying desperately for one more moment in the sun.