Rob Gronkowski Expected To Return

After pondering retirement, Rob Gronkowski is expected to continue playing in the NFL, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) reports. Agent Drew Rosenhaus declined to comment on the tight end’s status, but the belief is that he’ll be back with the Patriots in 2018. 

Rumors have been swirling about Gronkowski’s future for quite some time, particularly after he suffered a concussion during the AFC Championship game. The tight end has pondered a future in movies and even the WWE, but he’ll put acting and wrasslin’ on hold for the time being.

The lovable Gronk has caught 76 touchdowns through eight seasons in the NFL. This past season, he turned in another productive campaign with 69 grabs for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns.

After the Super Bowl, Patriots coach Bill Belichick did his best to quell talk of Gronkowski moving on to something else.

“At the end of every season, every person goes through somewhat of a process at the end of the season and then the following season,” Belichick said. “I think everyone that is involved in a NFL season, you get pretty drained especially after a season like this. [You] go through the end of the year process. The following year is the following year. It’s the same for everybody. I certainly can’t speak for anybody else…You’d have to ask any individual for every situation, but I would say five minutes after the game, or the day after the game is not really the time to make those decisions.”