Rob Gronkowski doesn’t believe Tom Brady will ride off into the sunset once the Buccaneers’ 2022 campaign is over.
Brady’s football future remains completely up in the air as the NFL’s regular season winds down. The seven-time Super Bowl champion himself isn’t thinking about what’s next, as his current focus is fixated entirely on leading Tampa Bay to a second consecutive NFC South title.
But if anyone knows what’s in store for Brady beyond this season, it might be Gronkowski. After all, the future Hall of Fame duo played 11 seasons together and maintain a close friendship. And if you ask Gronk, we’re going to see a Year 24 in the NFL for TB12.
“There’s rumors always going around,” Gronkowski said in an interview with SB Nation. “They’re just saying he’s going to the Niners back home, and he’s going back to the Patriots, he may stay with Tampa Bay. So you know, everyone’s just hitting every possible situation so that someone can finally say they’re right at the end. But overall, I think he can definitely play if he wants to. You don’t really see him falling off at all. He’s top five in the league in passing yards. So that’s just incredible at age 45. The zip on his ball is still there. It’s still very powerful. He’s reaching his targets with every single throw. So, you see no fall off at all. I don’t expect the fall off at all, I can see him going through to age 50 if he wanted to, but that’s up to him. But I definitely see him playing next year.”
It certainly does feel like the real question is where will Brady be playing next season rather than whether he will come back for another go-around. In addition to the teams Gronkowski mentioned, the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders all potentially could make a run at the star signal-caller this offseason.
Gronkowski also isn’t the only former teammate of Brady’s who believes the 45-year-old will hold off on retirement. Rodney Harrison expects Brady to play in 2023, but not with the Bucs.
