Rob Gronkowski rumors: Sean Payton trying to recruit former Fox colleague to Broncos
Sean Payton spent a retired year at Fox Sports before deciding to join the Broncos. He tries to convince his former colleague at the network to do the same.
Payton tweeted a Broncos shirt Saturday with the “B” scratched out and replaced with a “G” to spell “Groncos,” and tagged Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady as well as Fox Sports and the Broncos in the tweet.
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Gronkowski, who retired after the 2021 season, worked alongside Payton as an analyst at Fox in 2022.
The recruitment might have marked both Gronkowski and Brady, but it’s clearly aimed at Gronkowski. Brady, who officially retired this offseason and filed on Friday, is set to join Fox as a broadcaster in 2024. And the quarterback position at Denver is held until 2028 because Russell Wilson signed an extension with the team shortly after moving to the Broncos ahead of the 2022 season.
Gronkowski, on the other hand, could fit for Denver. Rookie Greg Dulcich led the team’s tight ends with 33 catches for 411 yards and two touchdowns in 2022.
The Broncos have $11.95 million in cap space, according to Spotrac. When Gronkowski re-signed with the Buccaneers in 2021, he signed a one-year, $10 million deal.
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Bringing Gronkowski out of retirement might be easier said than done. He’s done it once before, briefly retiring in 2019 before coming back to play with the Buccaneers. But throughout his career, Gronkowski has only played with Brady; They were teammates in New England from 2010-2018 and then in Tampa from 2020-21.
However, Gronkowski almost continued his NFL career in 2022 without Brady. He told the New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast that he was considering signing with the Bills, his kid team, but he said the urge to play football again just wasn’t there for him.
“I didn’t really feel like playing football again this year,” said Gronkowski. “When Tom retired I was like, ‘Ah, I’m actually going to look at some other teams.’ I was actually in a little bit of talks with the Buffalo Bills. They wanted me to get up there. But it just wasn’t there, you know. If my attitude was there, I’d probably be playing Buffalo right now on The Bills.”
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If Gronkowski doesn’t come back to play with Brady or play for the Bills, Payton could have an uphill battle to get him back playing for a Broncos team that went 5-12 and had the worst offense in the NFL had 2022 season.