Bucs Tight End Rob Gronkowski Unsure Whether He'll Return Next Season

Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski said he is unsure whether he will retire in the aftermath of the Buccaneers' 30–27 loss to the Rams in the divisional round of the postseason.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Gronkowski said, “I'm really going to basically do what's best for myself in terms of the football world. It's going to be a decision based upon of where I'm at in a couple weeks.”

Gronkowski, 32, completed his second season with the Buccaneers on Sunday, playing 12 games and logging 802 yards, his second-highest total since 2015. 

He said Monday he would take time off to recover, let his body heal and clear his mind in a process that could take three to five weeks.

Last March, he announced a return to the Buccaneers on a one-year, $10 million deal. A four-time Super Bowl champion, Gronkowski spent nine seasons with the Patriots before coming out of retirement to join the Buccaneers in March 2020.

Watch NFL games online all season long with fuboTV: Start with a 7-day free trial!

He suffered a number of injuries during the first nine years of his NFL career, which ultimately led to his decision to retire. The tight end was especially hampered during the 2013 season, when he played in just seven games and underwent surgeries for an arm fracture and back vertebral fracture. Gronkowski missed the end of the regular season and playoffs in '16 due to surgery for a back vertebral disk hernia.

The future of quarterback Tom Brady also appears to be uncertain, with his saying on Sunday, “We’ll just take it day by day and see where we’re at.”

Brady still has one more year on his current contract, but he hasn’t told the Buccaneers yet whether he’s playing next season, according to NFL Network.

When asked whether he could foresee returning even if Brady retires, Gronkowski said, “There could be a scenario like that,” via 95.3 WDAE in St. Petersburg. “I will never throw anything off the board because you never know how anything is going to play out. It's the NFL. It's one of the craziest businesses out there. You see organizations just totally flip year in and year out sometimes.”

• All Bucs: Rams Survive Bucs in Divisional Round

For more Buccaneers news, head over to All Bucs. 

Sports Illustrated may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.