NFL Rumors: How Brandin Cooks Trade Affects Rob Gronkowski’s Patriots Future

Brandin Cooks reportedly no longer is a member of the New England Patriots, but we should we expect Rob Gronkowski to follow suit?

The Patriots reportedly traded Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams along with a fourth-round draft pick Tuesday, getting LA’s first-round draft pick in 2018 (No. 23 overall) and a sixth-round pick in return.

Most of New England’s offense has centered around the future of Gronkowski, who has been contemplating retirement but reportedly is expected to return to Foxboro, Mass. next season. With reports of friction between Gronkowski and head coach Bill Belichick circulating, many have speculated that the star tight end might be shipped out this offseason. And reports surfaced Monday that some teams had been preparing offers for the tight end.

But with Cooks being traded to the Rams, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that New England will not be trading Gronkowski, as the Patriots plan to have he, Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan anchor the receiving corps.

Of course, Belichick was adamant that he wouldn’t trade Jimmy Garoppolo once upon a time, and we all saw how that turned out.

It’s hard to imagine the Patriots going into the 2018 season with just Edelman, who is coming off an ACL tear, and Hogan being the main options for a 41-year-old Tom Brady, though. So the smart money is on Patriots fans seeing a few more Gronk spikes next season.