Tom Brady returned to the Buccaneers this offseason in pursuit of an eighth Super Bowl title — but it remains to be seen if he will run it back with longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski.
Gronkowski, who came out of retirement in 2020 to reunite with Brady in Tampa Bay, has yet to make a decision about his football future. And while Brady expressed that he’d like to play with Gronkowski again, the 44-year-old quarterback recognizes that the decision ultimately rests in the tight end’s hands.
“I think it’s just obviously totally up to him,” Brady said Thursday following a brief indoor workout that capped off the Buccaneers’ mandatory, three-day minicamp.
“We’d all love to play with him, but he’s got to make the best decision for himself, and he knows that. Anyone who cares about him knows that he’s doing what’s right for him, which is trying to figure it out.”
Brady’s remarks about Gronkowski, 33, come a few weeks after the two were seen taking batting practice at the New York Yankees’ minor league facility, which is a short drive away from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Brady has utilized the field to stage private football workouts with teammates in the past.
The Buccaneers still retain more than $10 million in salary-cap space for 2022 even after the recent signing of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Akiem Hicks, according to Spotrac.com. Gronkowski, who spent the first nine seasons of his career in New England with Brady, signed a one-year, $8 million deal last year, in which he posted 802 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 55 receptions.
Until Gronkowski makes a decision, however, Brady and the Buccaneers are content with the current status quo.
“We don’t have training camp for about six weeks,” he said. “So whatever he’s got to do to figure it out, and I think we’ll be hopeful if he does. And if he doesn’t, then we’ve still got to go out there and figure out what to do.”
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