Why Rob Gronkowski Believes A.J. Brown Could Be the Patriots’ Next Randy Moss

The longtime Patriots tight end spoke with Sports Illustrated about New England’s new No. 1 wide receiver.

A.J. Brown was traded to the Patriots on June 1. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

When offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels compared A.J. Brown to Rob Gronkowski earlier this month, it immediately caught the future Hall of Famer’s attention.

Just one day after New England sent a 2028 first-round pick and a ’27 fifth-rounder to the Eagles in exchange for the three-time Pro Bowler, McDaniels was asked if he’d ever been around anyone like him previously, to which he replied: “Maybe the closest thing I’ve seen is Gronk.”

That juxtaposition wasn’t lost on Gronkowski, who spent the bulk of his four-time Super Bowl-winning career with McDaniels as his play caller—and makes him uniquely positioned to speak on the kind of role Brown can play for the Patriots in 2026. 

“I really think that he’s going to be the presence of the offense,” Gronkowski told Sports Illustrated, while promoting his partnership with Ryde: for the launch of SLEEP, a new 2-oz functional shot designed to help people unwind and recover. “And that’s what they needed. Very similar to me—and especially with Josh McDaniels comparing [us] the very first day that he was there—that big-bodied presence out there on the football field that takes the attention of the defense. That’s A.J. Brown. That was myself.”

Outside of Tom Brady, it’s fair to argue that Gronkowski is the most successful player in Patriots history. On his way to putting together a Hall of Fame-worthy résumé, the tight end caught 521 passes for 7,861 receiving yards and scored 80 total touchdowns during his time in New England. A lot of that success can be attributed to his main superpower: his size, which allowed the Patriots to use him as a defensive coverage dictator—and in turn a matchup nightmare. Gronkowski believes Brown can have a similar impact on opposing defenses, with the trickle-down helping out the rest of the wide receiver room.

“You can find other mismatches,” Gronkowski said. “You can easily create mismatches as well because the team, the defense, is focused on Brown—because at any given time, if you don't focus on him, you can check it to him. You can audible to him [and], boom, that’s an opportunity to give him the ball. He can take the ball to the house at any given time on any route, he can break tackles, and that's what makes him such a force.

Rob Gronkowski spent the majority of his career with Josh McDaniels calling plays. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“So he’s such a huge get, and the defenses are definitely going to be taking notice of where he’s at on every single play. And it just helps boost the rest of the offense [and] it also makes Josh McDaniels’s job easier as well.”

New England began reworking its wide receiver room back in March, releasing Stefon Diggs in an effort to create salary cap space before using it to sign Romeo Doubs to a three-year, $68 million contract. The Brown trade was the icing on the cake, as he joins a group that already includes Doubs, Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas and Kayhon Boutte, among others.

“They’ve got great wide receivers around him,” Gronkowski added. “A great supporting cast now on the offensive side of the ball. You’ve got a wonderful quarterback that can distribute the ball well … That big-bodied presence, that's what they needed to elevate that offense to make them Super Bowl contenders again, and they went out and did it.”

As Brown enters his eighth NFL season, he’ll do so under a head coach he’s more than familiar with in Mike Vrabel, but also with a seventh (!) offensive coordinator in McDaniels—whose spin on the long-standing Erhardt-Perkins system that the Patriots run has been a challenge for veteran players in the past. Look at Chad Johnson, for example. After spending 10 years with the Bengals and being named a first-team All-Pro three times, Ochocinco (as he went by then) caught just 15 passes for 276 yards in his lone season in New England, and never played a regular-season snap again. 

Gronkowski, too, had trouble acclimating with the Patriots, and had to be—as Brady put it—“toughened up” by the franchise quarterback on the fly to learn the offense during his rookie season. Prior to even being drafted by New England, the tight end gave off quite a first impression taking a nap inside the team’s facility during his pre-draft visit to Foxborough. (Perhaps the tight end could have used his SLEEP shot from Ryde back then, which he says helps him “fall asleep faster, supports sleep quality and make it easier to get much-needed rest on a daily basis.”)

All that said, Gronkowski has minimal concern about Brown’s ability to pick things up quickly with the Patriots.

“The difference between him and I learning that playbook … I was coming out of college [where] the playbook was very simple,” he explained. “And I got handed a playbook in the NFL that I'd just never seen before.
You know, my mind wasn't really there. I was a young kid. I was distracted. 
And that's why I had difficulties picking up the playbook going into my rookie year.”

“For him, it's going to be a no-brainer,” Gronkowski continued. “He’s ready to go. He knows what it takes. He wouldn’t be at the level he’s at without knowing the game. He’s a smart football player … so he’s going to pick that up very easily, and Josh McDaniels does a great job at teaching everything that you need to know as well.”

Rob Gronkowski compares A.J. Brown’s situation with Patriots to Randy Moss’s in 2007

Randy Moss was traded to the Patriots ahead of the 2007 season. | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Brown’s exit from Philadelphia was certainly a contentious one. Through some cryptic tweets, the reading of self-help books and plenty of pointed postgame comments, the 28-year-old made it clear that he was unhappy in the City of Brotherly Love. As a final parting gift, he signed a picture of himself in the facility with the message, “The best to ever play here. Always open.” Now in New England, Brown is officially a part of the team he grew up rooting for, playing for a coach he’s worked with in the past and with a group of teammates he’s already familiar with. This past week, he said it, “feels great” to be in Foxborough. Gronkowski echoed that sentiment, saying he believes Brown is “very happy” with the move, before comparing him to another Patriots legend.

“I would say it relates a little bit—two totally different players—but it relates a little bit to like the Randy Moss situation,” he said, throwing it back to 2007. “Kind of had a down year when he was in Oakland, [Brown] kind of had a down year last year in Philadelphia, but he still has a lot left in the tank. He's still going to be a number one wide receiver; he can still take the load of every pass that’s thrown his way and make big plays. There’s no doubt about that … I think he's in the perfect situation now where everything can thrive.” 

Fresh off an appearance in Super Bowl LX, the Patriots have done their part this offseason to improve heading into 2026, signing several key free agents and bringing in a nine-player draft class to fill their roster holes. Brown is simply the cherry on top.

“The Patriots, they needed to go out there and put themselves in a position to be contenders again,” said Gronkowski. “They needed to upgrade that roster to be Super Bowl contenders again, and that's what they are. They’re contenders to make another run, and that's all you can ask for.”

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