Buccaneers' Rob Gronkowski hints WR Julian Edelman will return

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski joked last month that he believed there was a "69% chance" wide receiver and Super Bowl LIII Most Valuable Player Julian Edelman would end his retirement that he announced earlier in April and join former teammates Gronk and Tom Brady in Tampa Bay. 

Gronkowski was a bit more serious while discussing the subject with Mike Greenberg of ESPN on Monday. 

"I just wish the best for Julian to heal up," Gronkowski explained, per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "Obviously in his little press conference thing, he said he was going to go until the tires fall off and he sure has. So I’m hoping he heals up. I want the best for him. I’ve been in that situation before. I believe, if Julian truly heals up whatever’s hurting on him, and he fully heals and feels good, I think he’ll be back. I don’t see why he wouldn’t be back, eventually in the future. Maybe a year or two away. Let me tell you: He’s just a competitor. So I say if he heals up 100% and feels good, I think he’ll be back in the NFL." 

Edelman had his contract terminated by the New England Patriots ahead of his retirement and was expected to miss at least part of the 2021 season coming off knee surgery. 

Gronkowski, meanwhile, retired following the 2018 campaign but returned to the NFL so he could be traded from New England to Tampa Bay in April 2020. He, Brady, and the Buccaneers went on to win the Super Bowl, and the pair may speak of that success when attempting to convince Edelman that he should join them and pursue at least one more ring.