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Gronkowski Returning Poll 7.16.19 - Mike Florio Says 40% (1 Viewer)

What Are The Chances Rob Gronkowski Returns At Some Point In 2019 Season?

  • More than 20% Chance He Returns

    Votes: 41 29.9%

  • Less than 20% Chance He Returns

    Votes: 96 70.1%
  • Total voters
    137
Joe Bryant

Joe Bryant

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Interesting. Mike Florio said this morning he estimated chances of Gronkowski returning at 40%.

Some say lower. If the over/under was at 20%, what do you think?

From WEEI:

Rob Gronkowski unretiring and playing in 2019 is a storyline that will never go away.

It continued Tuesday with Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reporting his potential for a first annual unretirement is at 40 percent. He notes Gronkowski is enjoying the summer and doesn't need the money, but the deciding factor could be Tom Brady reaching out directly to the tight end to try and get him to return.

Another thing to consider is if Bill Belichick would be open to Gronkowski returning in the middle of a season, but Florio says he's been very supportive of Gronkowski through the whole process and there's been a "general softening" of Belichick.

It's worth noting Florio is the one who reported this and he has historically been very close to Drew Rosenhaus, Gronkowski's agent, so it could be coming from him.

Regardless, this truly is a storyline that will not go away even into the season.
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2% chance with a zero in percent chance Brady begs him to come back (that just seems totally made up - man decides he’s had enough, you respect that & move on, next man up)

Gronk banked his salary & has had enough pain to last a lifetime

 
I think he tipped his hand a bit when he indicated he’d come back for the playoffs...I think he was only half joking.

 
TheDirtyWord said:
I think he tipped his hand a bit when he indicated he’d come back for the playoffs...I think he was only half joking.
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agreed...I think it depends on how other things in  his life are going too.  If nothing much is happening, he may say, why not.  If he's got some huge acting/entertainment gigs that he's enjoying he could be thinking no way. 

Another factor might be how healthy he is feeling.

It's truly a wait and see.  I don't think he knows at this point.

 
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If the pats are willing to sign him half way through or towards the end of the season (and why wouldnt they? 80% of Gronk is better than any te they've got), I believe he would be willing to go on another playoff run.

 
Weird that the guy is working out with Brady though. Why do that if you're retired? I doubt he comes back, but weird. He is kind of a weird guy though.

 
I think he might return, but I'm probably dropping in dynasty in the one league I haven't yet.  Even if he comes back, fantasy relevance probably won't be there. 

 
Tool said:
Not sure how you could say that.
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I think it's a reasonable statement. Even when he's not been injured and missing games the past couple of years, he has only intermittently been a fantasy difference maker when he actually plays. If he comes back, you're likely not getting peak fantasy Gronk or even close to it. I don't think that the upside at this point is great enough to warrant using a roster spot on him. 

 
RushHour said:
I think it's a reasonable statement. Even when he's not been injured and missing games the past couple of years, he has only intermittently been a fantasy difference maker when he actually plays. If he comes back, you're likely not getting peak fantasy Gronk or even close to it. I don't think that the upside at this point is great enough to warrant using a roster spot on him. 
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Don't see how he won't be fantasy relevant.

 
Tool said:
Not sure how you could say that.
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Guessing that if he does come back he does so at the end of the year near the fantasy playoffs.  Then he has a few games where he doesn't play a ton cause they don't need to win and he's just getting up to speed.  Then he comes back in the playoffs and plays normally, but fantasy is over. 

 
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BobbyLayne said:
Gronk banked his salary & has had enough pain to last a lifetime
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Mike Ditka had a similar style of play, and he has barely been able to walk for the last thirty years. I once saw a live satellite feed of ESPN Gameday. He was so immobile, it took him five minutes to bend into a chair.

 
I thought at one point I read something that if he did not report by a certain date (which was pretty early in the season) he would be subject to waivers when he did return. I can't find anything to back that up now so maybe that information was wrong (or I am not remembering it correctly).

Anyone know anything about that?

 
If he retired with time left on his contract the Pats have his rights. 

Rolando McClain retired under contract twice and when he unretired the teams that wanted to sign him had to trade for him. I think Dallas sent a 7th to Baltimore for the rights to sign him.

 
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Tanner9919 said:
after seeing the post-football Gronk , with the significant weight loss and skinny arms , I'd bet the farm he is retired for good. 

https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/2019/07/16/rob-gronkowski-patriots-story-retirement-zolak/

what else is Florio going to talk about mid-summer with nothing going on camps not even open yet.

nothing to see here.
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Exactly the same thoughts. Dude looked skinny. Even with muscle memory and all that, no way he's in playing shape this year.

 
Dr. Octopus said:
I thought at one point I read something that if he did not report by a certain date (which was pretty early in the season) he would be subject to waivers when he did return. I can't find anything to back that up now so maybe that information was wrong (or I am not remembering it correctly).

Anyone know anything about that?
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He did not play out his contract and NE did not release him. He is property of the Patriots until one of those two things happen. Should Gronk decide he might be up for returning to the Pats, his contract would likely become an issue (it has been for years). I don't know for sure or not, but if he didn't file his official retirement papers with the league, he doesn't even need to be reinstated by the league. All that would need to happen is NE would need to take him off of their retirement / inactive list.

EDIT TO ADD: It would actually be more complicated than the way I just described it. If Gronk did decide to suit up and did not officially retire with the league, yes, it would be a simple procedural task for him to get activated. It would be much more difficult for NE. In order to add him to their roster, NE would have to have the cap room available to do so. If he didn't fit, the Patriots would have to figure out ways to get him under the cap.  That part also could get tricky, because I do not believe there is a set policy in place for what Gronk's cap number would be. A logically approach would be that Gronk's cap number would be a prorated amount of of his $9.85 million that he was due. Essentially, $575,000 or so for each week of the 17 week season. However, there is nothing iron clad that Gronk needs to be paid that amount per week. By that I mean, Gronk could come back for 10 games and demand $750,000 per game. He, his agent, the team, and the league would have to come up with an acceptable salary and cap number. If Gronk really meant it that he would only play for Brady and NE, the Patriotscould always release him and re-sign him to a new deal.

As for Gronk looking skinny, he looks extra skinny when he is standing in the summer of 2019 in shorts and a t-shirt juxtaposed to a game day picture in full pads and a uniform from 2018. Of course he is going to look skinny not decked out in battle gear. He claims he's only lost 15-20 pounds. It's probably more than that, but NE would probably take him back as an oversized receiver and have him play in the slot or outside if need be.

 
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I can see it now - Brady retires soon, the Pats suck for 10 yrs, and he returns as a ringer at 55 when they make the playoffs 

 
Encyclopedia Brown said:
Mike Ditka had a similar style of play, and he has barely been able to walk for the last thirty years. I once saw a live satellite feed of ESPN Gameday. He was so immobile, it took him five minutes to bend into a chair.
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one of my all-time favorite plays

Defining moment of the Bears (11-1-2) 1963 Championship team. With less than two minutes left, Ditka catches a short pass and sheds a half dozen tacklers for a 65 yard gain. Set up the tying FG, and they won the regular season conference title by a 1/2 game over the Packers. 

He was a bit before my time, but his chapter in this book made a deep impression on on 8 y.o. BL; the opener was a vivid description of the that 65 yard catch and run.

 
We've heard many times how pro sports players struggle to find their identity after retirement.  The fame, glory and limelight have got to be so hard to walk away from.  Especially at only 30 years young.  If he has a solid game plan on how to approach retirement, then he may be ok.    But once preseason starts, he may just get that itch.  I don't think it will be too hard for him to put 10-15lbs back on and be ready to play by October.  I voted for greater than a 20% chance, but I don't think much greater.  Only basing it on my gut feeling and how I would feel if in the situation.  Gronk may be completely content to never play another snap.  Big names like Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, DeMarco Murray have done it, so it's quite possible.    

 
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Tool said:
Fwiw Rich Eisen is saying 100% chance he returns
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Essentially, people are throwing out wild guesses. I don't think there are folks with informed opinions or with insider information. Heck, Gronk probably isn't sure what he will do.

I think what is missing in the discussion is how life away from football goes for Gronk. Right now he is basically on extended vacation hanging out with his swimsuit model of a girlfriend. We have no idea what business ventures and potential revenue streams are available to him and where those goes. Maybe he can do film work . . . or commercials . . . or wrestling . . . or survive for awhile doing signings and appearances. But if none of those really pan out, he may have a financial incentive to go back to football. Maybe he's tucked enough money away so he never has to work another day in his life. All of that will factor into his thought process on whether he wants come out of retirement. Or maybe he will just miss football so much that alone will get him to come back.

At those point, it's a giant WHO REALLY KNOWS? so far, he hasn't really missed much that he would have done in any other year. He's missed a total of 0 games so far. We can revisit his missing the game a few months down the road (and maybe have a better idea of what other things he can come up with to fill the time).

 
Anarchy99 said:
Essentially, people are throwing out wild guesses. I don't think there are folks with informed opinions or with insider information. Heck, Gronk probably isn't sure what he will do.

I think what is missing in the discussion is how life away from football goes for Gronk. Right now he is basically on extended vacation hanging out with his swimsuit model of a girlfriend. We have no idea what business ventures and potential revenue streams are available to him and where those goes. Maybe he can do film work . . . or commercials . . . or wrestling . . . or survive for awhile doing signings and appearances. But if none of those really pan out, he may have a financial incentive to go back to football. Maybe he's tucked enough money away so he never has to work another day in his life. All of that will factor into his thought process on whether he wants come out of retirement. Or maybe he will just miss football so much that alone will get him to come back.

At those point, it's a giant WHO REALLY KNOWS? so far, he hasn't really missed much that he would have done in any other year. He's missed a total of 0 games so far. We can revisit his missing the game a few months down the road (and maybe have a better idea of what other things he can come up with to fill the time).
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One of the things that has been repeated ad nauseum about Gronk is that he did not touch one cent of his NFL salary and lived entirely off of his endorsements.  Obviously, I cannot verify his financial situation, but I do not believe that will be one of the incentives for him to return.

 
tangfoot said:
One of the things that has been repeated ad nauseum about Gronk is that he did not touch one cent of his NFL salary and lived entirely off of his endorsements.  Obviously, I cannot verify his financial situation, but I do not believe that will be one of the incentives for him to return.
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The flip side is he constantly was complaining about his contract and wanted more money. "Money not being an issue" and "demanding more money over and over again" don't exactly fit together. If Gronk runs the numbers and he can only make $500K a film shooting bit parts in movies over several months in places no one wants to go to . . . if he has to travel across the country all year to make only $2 million for wrestling appearances . . . or if he could make $5 million by playing football for less than half a season and not go to training camp, football could be a more viable option than the others. The overall point being, IMO, it's too soon to tell much about Gronk's future and what percentage chance there is of him coming back. But those providing a number are certainly getting lots of clicks for their hot takes.

 
Anarchy99 said:
 That part also could get tricky, because I do not believe there is a set policy in place for what Gronk's cap number would be. A logically approach would be that Gronk's cap number would be a prorated amount of of his $9.85 million that he was due.
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Nothing tricky about it, that's exactly how it would be, unless they re-negotiate the salary in which case it's the pro-rated balance of that new salary.  If he reports at any time he's entitled to that and the only thing the team can do is cut him. 

I don't know what Doc read, but the only thing I can think of related to waivers would be if he returned after the trade deadline.  Any player cut after the trade deadline is subject to waivers regardless of seniority, so if Gronkowski just showed up after that and NEP decided they didn't want to pay him he'd be subject to waivers once NEP cut him.

 
It seems a little incongruous that Gronk is going to push something that he claims made him feel the best he's felt in years . . . and yet he remains retired. The logical marketing attraction would have been if he used it to RETURN to playing because he felt so good. I don't think this announcement really moved the needle for me in terms of will he or won't he come back.

 
Anarchy99 said:
It seems a little incongruous that Gronk is going to push something that he claims made him feel the best he's felt in years . . . and yet he remains retired. The logical marketing attraction would have been if he used it to RETURN to playing because he felt so good. I don't think this announcement really moved the needle for me in terms of will he or won't he come back.
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He won't/can't come back unless his campaign to allow CBD in the NFL is successful.  I'm willing to bet that the NFLPA will successfully mimic the NHL in this regard and marijuana and its derivatives will be removed from the testing list altogether in their next contract. 

That's a year or more off, and he will likely have found some other shiny new thing to champion by then.

 
Given this quote, I put it at a 1% chance.

“It’s crazy. I understand. I feel that love. But I want to be clear to my fans: I needed to recover. I was not in a good place. Football was bringing me down. And I didn’t like it. And I was losing that joy in life. Like, the joy. I’m sorry right now,” Gronkowski said, fighting through tears. “But … I really was. And I was fighting through it. And I knew what I signed up for and I knew what I was fighting through, and I knew I just needed to fix myself.”

Gronkowski said his focus now is on achieving optimal health, and that a return to the NFL is not in the cards in the coming weeks or the next month.

However, Gronkowski left the door open to a return to playing football, if he feels healthy enough at a later date.

“I truly believe I can get to another level with my body, and I’m just in the first stage right now,” Gronkowski shared. “When that time comes down in the future, if I have the desire to play football again, if I feel passionate about football again, if I’m feeling like I need to go back on the field, I will go back to football. But as of right now, that is not the case. It could be the case in six months, it could be the case in two years, it could be the case in three years, it could be the case in three months. But I truly don’t see it in the foreseeable future, in like a week or a month. No. I want to do a different chapter of my life right now.”
Not really getting a strong, “I’m returning to football anytime soon” vibe here. 
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Rob Gronkowski: “I’m staying away from football. I’m finally pain-free & this NFL-banned CBD I’ve been taking has saved my life. I don’t see myself returning to football. I’m not coming back today, tomorrow, next week or next month.”

fantasy community, Florio & Pats fans: https://youtu.be/KX5jNnDMfxA

 
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