Did Rob Gronkowski almost join the Buffalo Bills before the 2022-23 NFL Season? What did he say about it?

When thinking of the modern tight end in football, it’s quite likely that the first name you will hear about is Rob Gronkowski. A multiple record holder with insane stats, the ‘Gronk’ was also a known accomplice of Tom Brad with whom he decimated teams while playing for both the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Rob Gronkowski explains how he almost joined the Buffalo Bills

Given how the Buffalo Bills have played this season, what they endured recently with Damar Hamlin and where they’re at right now, it’s borderline terrifying to think that Rob Gronkowski almost joined them before the 2022-23 NFL regular season began. At least, that’s what the man himself recently state in a podcast appearance. Before we get into that, take a moment to think about what the Bills as they are right now - Super Bowl favorites - would be like with ‘The Gronk’ on their roster. With that image firmly in place, let’s get into what the 2014 NFL Comeback Player of the Year had to say.

Gronkowski was speaking recently, on the “New Heights” podcast with Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, when he let drop the idea that he very much wanted to join the Bills ahead of this past season. Being a native of Amherst, New York and an integral part of the Patriots dynasty, that wasn’t necessarily surprising. What was more of a shock, however, was the fact that Gronkowski actually admitted that he had engaged in talks with the Bills:

“Now I’m retired again, so I wanna bring this back up. I’m kind of a Buffalo Bills fan again. Now that I’m not playing no more, I’m like, ‘Dang.’ I thought about that, how cool it would be to play for the Buffalo Bills. I actually thought about it. When Tom (Brady) retired this year, I didn’t really feel like playing football again after this year. I was like, ‘Eh, Tom retired. Let me check out some other teams.’ ...I was actually in talks with the Buffalo Bills a little bit. They wanted me to come up there, but it just wasn’t there though. If my mindset was there, I would probably most likely be in Buffalo right now playing with the Bills.”

Could the Bills use Rob Gronkowski?

Here’s the thing: Gronkowski has been out of the game since he retired back on June 21st, 2021 while playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was the second time that he had retired, having previously done so at the end of his with the New England Patriots in 2019, before returning to the field with a one-year deal in Tampa Bay in early 2021. This is all to say that on one side, we’ve got a player who has demonstrated an uncertainty where calling time on his career is concerned. On the other, he’s now 33-years-old and as such one could be forgiven for wondering, whether or not he can still play at the highest level.

Yet, here’s the other thing: Gronkowski has 621 receptions, 9,286 yards receiving and 92 touchdowns in his NFL career. To give you greater perspective, let’s break that down. The five-time Pro-Bowler has got the most touchdown receptions by a tight end in a season with 17 and to that end, he’s actually the first tight end to lead the NFL in receiving touchdowns. There’s more to, like the fact that he’s also got the most receptions by a tight end in a Super Bowl with 23 and the most receiving yards by a tight end in Super Bowl history with 297. We could go on, but we imagine you get the point. In conclusion, could Gronkowski have been of use to the Bills in this current campaign, it’s hard to say. What we do know is that it would definitely have been interesting to see Buffalo give him a try.