Rob Gronkowski and the New England Patriots are playing the Detroit Lions at Ford Field this evening, but according to a report that surfaced today, a trade that almost took place this offseason would have had Gronkowski on the opposite side of tonight’s matchup.
Patriots and Lions nearly completed a blockbuster trade in the week of the NFL draft that would have sent Rob Gronkowski to Detroit, per sources. Now Gronkowski is in Detroit to play the Lions tonight.https://t.co/Dn0DEHWmAu
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2018
Upon finding out that he might be traded to Detroit, Gronkowski threatened to retire instead of play for Detroit. He went so far as to ignore phone calls from those in the Lions organization, and not make any effort to return calls, as well. Some sources have said that it wasn’t so much about Gronk not wanting to play in Detroit, but more along the lines of not wanting to play anywhere other than with the Patriots.
Gronkowski’s name was apparently mentioned in numerous trade rumors, although no teams made as much progress in trade talks as Detroit. It has been reported that if any of those trades would have gone through, Gronkowski would not have reported to any other teams. He wanted to play in New England, and New England alone.
It was during this time that New England brass decided to start putting together a plan for how Gronk could stay in New England and continue playing for the Patriots. New England called off any trade that would have involved Gronkowski, leaving the Lions to either stay pat at the position or continue searching elsewhere.
In the end, Gronkowski and the Patriots worked out a new contract that added $4.3 million in incentives for Gronkowski. As for the Lions, the search for a competent tight end seemingly continues. Through two games, all of Michael Roberts, Levine Toilolo, Luke Willson, and Hakeem Valles have combined for four catches for a total of 40 yards. For the sake of comparison, just note that Gronk has nine catches for 138 yards at this point of the season.
