Gronkowski Told Patriots That He Was Going To Retire

Published on March 15th, 2024 4:57 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Rob Gronkowski is arguably the greatest tight end of all time and his contributions to the Super Bowl winning teams of the Patriots and Buccaneers can't be understated.

Gronk is a legend, and Patriots fans will forever hold a special spots in their hearts for "Gronk".

These same fans can laugh at the trade that Gronk nixed late in his career, as the Patriots would win another title before Gronkowski finally retired.

If they hadn't won another title, these fans might have been a bit miffed.

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It was 2018, and Gronkowski (admittedly) was being a bit hard to handle in the locker room.

Coach Bill Belichick had reportedly had enough of the antics and decided that he was going to trade the legendary tight end.

The Detroit Lions ended up being a willing partner, and a deal was struck: Gronk and a second-round pick to the Lions, in exchange for a first-round pick and a second-round pick.

The Patriots thought that this was a fair deal that would allow them to build for the future.

The only problem? Gronk wasn't having it.

As Gronk tells it, the Patriots told him about the trade and he responded by asking how the team could trade him when he was retired.

Retired? The Patriots asked.

Retired, Gronk responded.

The trade with the Lions was off.

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Cooler heads prevailed, and the Patriots and Gronkowski patched up their relationship, which resulted in yet another Super Bowl.

You can't help but wonder just how Rob Gronkowski in Detroit would have gone, as he was a free spirit that was used to winning all the time.

You also can't help but wonder what the Patriots would have done with that first-round draft pick, but we'll never know.