Buccaneers' Tom Brady laments loss of Rob Gronkowski before 2022 season

Agent Drew Rosenhaus teased as recently as last week that he "wouldn't be surprised" if future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski ended his second playing retirement to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and catch passes thrown by "best friend" and quarterback Tom Brady if Brady requested the help of his former teammate at some point this fall. 

As of today, however, the Buccaneers have Cameron Brate atop the depth chart at Gronkowski's position. Tampa Bay also acquired former Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Rudolph and seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones this offseason, but Brady did well to remind everyone when speaking with reporters on Thursday that Gronkowski was truly a one-of-a-kind offensive weapon in his prime. 

"You know Gronk’s one of the all-time great players in the league," Brady remarked, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. "I don’t think you just put together a team and think that there’s another Gronk out there. There’s only one. The guys that are in there — we drafted a few; we brought in a free agent; Cam’s done a great job with his leadership. You know, it’s really a unit. It’s not one player. It’s a bunch of different players. You’d much rather play with a guy like Gronk than not, but he’s not here. So, we just have to do other things and play to the strengths of the players we have." 

Gronkowski earned five Pro Bowl and four First-Team All-Pro nods before he retired for the first time in 2019. The 33-year-old then sat out a season before he joined Brady in Tampa Bay for the last two campaigns but has insisted throughout the summer that he's done and "wouldn't go back to football" even if the G.O.A.T. called in a favor before the start of winter. 

Assuming he's serious, Gronkowski retired with 621 career receptions for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns tallied across 11 total seasons. As for Brady and the Buccaneers, they'll open the upcoming campaign at the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday evening.