Bucs’ Todd Bowles Said Rob Gronkowski Reached Out to Team Recently

The former tight end retired for the second time in the summer.

In the offseason, for the second time, tight end Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL. And a few weeks ago, for the second time, Gronkowski considered coming out of retirement.

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles revealed that Gronkowski called the team about a possible return for the playoff push. However, nothing serious came of the call.

“It was more of a conversation than anything else,” Bowles said, via the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud. “Usually, when you have to think about playing, you probably don’t want to play. When it’s just a discussion, I didn’t think much of it at the time.”

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NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports Gronkowski has actually spoken to the Buccaneers multiple times this year, and this conversation was just the latest instance. Garafolo added that this could indicate that returning in 2023 is “in play” for the tight end.

Good info here from @NFLSTROUD. The #Bucs have had a few conversations with Gronk since the start of training camp. Probably why Bowles told Rick he didn’t think much of this one. But even if Gronk doesn’t play this year, a return in 2023 somewhere could be in play. https://t.co/RnvAssKqht

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 23, 2022

The former tight end originally stepped away from football in 2019, but returned in 2020 when he followed Tom Brady to Tampa Bay. After two years with the Buccaneers, Gronkowski once again retired in July, seemingly for good this time.

On Wednesday, however, Gronkowski tweeted that he was “bored,” something that caused speculation as to whether he was ready to make a return to the league. Since then, the tight end said two teams reached out with potential interest in bringing him aboard, with one team utilizing a unique recruiting pitch.

Despite the consideration, Gronkowski said he is staying retired for now. But, you never truly know with Gronkowski.