#Rob Gronkowski’s NFL future may not be tied to Tom Brady

Much like longtime friend and teammate Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski is also thinking about his NFL future.

One day after the Buccaneers fell to the Rams in the NFC Divisional Round of the playoffs, Gronkowski spoke to reporters about the possibility of playing next season without Brady, whose retirement has been widely speculated since Sunday’s loss.

“There could be a scenario like that,” Gronkowski said, per 95.3 WDAE in St. Petersburg. “I will never throw anything off the board because you never know how anything is going to play out. It’s the NFL. It’s one of the craziest businesses out there. You see organizations just totally flip year in and year out sometimes.”

Gronkowski spent the first nine seasons of his career in New England with Brady, where they won three Super Bowls together. The 32-year-old tight end first called it a career in March 2019 but came out of retirement in April 2020, when he reunited with the only quarterback he’s ever known in Tampa Bay.

Following the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl win last February, Gronkowski signed a one-year deal to return to the team for the 2021 season. Gronkowski said Monday he is going to take some time and see where he’s at in the coming weeks.

“I’m just going to really basically do what is basically best for myself in terms of the football world. It’s basically going to be a decision upon where I’m at in a couple weeks,” he said, according to Yahoo Sports.

On Monday night, however, Gronkowski shared an Instagram message that appeared to hint at the possibility of a twelfth season.

“Year 12??? 👀,” he wrote at the end of the post.

Brady said Monday on his SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” that he’s not going to make an immediate decision about the future.

“I think the point is there’s no real rush for me to figure out what’s next,” the 44-year-old quarterback said. “I’ll know when I know. It’s the day after the season. I think for all of us we can decompress a bit. It’s been six straight months of football. Every day, consumed by day in and day out football. Now is just the time to spend some time with my family and my kids.”

Brady’s wife, Gisele Bündchen, was in attendance for Sunday’s game and has been noticeably silent on social media since.

The couple has been married since 2009 and has two children together, daughter Vivian, 9, and son Benjamin, 12. Brady also shares son Jack, 14, with ex Bridget Moynahan.