Here’s why the NY Giants should reach out and pursue Rob Gronkowski right now

Heading into the 2023 season, tight end would be one of the few positions that the NY Giants would need to focus on making any major changes to. That is, until a future Hall of Famer like Rob Gronkowski makes a public statement that makes everyone think that might have eyes on playing for the Giants.

The Giants already have a top-tier tight end with Darren Waller, whom the Giants traded for back in March. Waller was fantastic in his Giants debut on Friday night. Plus they also have Daniel Bellinger, who is entering into his second season and given how he bulked up, many are expecting him to have a solid sophomore season in 2023. Thus, many consider the Giants to be good at tight end.

But when someone like Gronkowski, who is already destined for the Hall of Fame in a few years, talks about how Brian Daboll might be the only coach to lure him out of retirement, this is something that should be taken very seriously by the Giants. When Gronkowski retired for the second time in his career after 2021, he was retiring again on his terms.

Gronkowski and Daboll are certainly no strangers to each other, as Daboll was Gronkowski’s tight end coach with the New England Patriots from 2013-2016 and Gronkowski absolutely loved his time with Daboll on Bill Belichick’s coaching staff as his position coach.

Gronkowski was still an extremely productive player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2021, as he had 55 catches for 802 yards and six touchdowns in a season where he was attempting to help Tampa repeat as Super Bowl Champions. Gronkowski didn’t look like Tom Brady this past season when Brady looked ready to retire and might have played one too many seasons.

Gronkowski also has another full year of rest on his body, a body that did experience some wear and tear on it because he played so hard and physical during his 11 years in the league. Gronkowski already retired once when he was with the New England Patriots and missed the entire 2019 season before coming back in 2020 to follow Brady to Tampa and another championship.

If Gronkowski is really serious with Daboll being the best coach to convince him to come out of retirement, then Daboll and Joe Schoen need to be on the phone with Gronkowski’s camp as soon as possible to see how serious he is about another stint in the league.

When Gronkowski was in the league, some of his best seasons were when he played alongside other tight ends and it made for opposing defenses to not be able to cover everyone. This was the case with the Patriots when he won three championships with them and had Martellus Bennett with him for one. Gronkowski then had O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate with him for the championship with the Buccaneers. Having those options at tight end made it more difficult for the opponents.

If anything, having Gronkowski with Waller and Bellinger could make for the best tight end group he plays on if he decides to make a return to the league and a 12th season. On paper, the Giants are figured to have a good offense as is heading into the 2023 season. Saquon Barkley, Jalin Hyatt, Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, Parris Campbell to go with Waller and Bellinger, with Daniel Jones leading the way. The possibilities are endless, which Gronkowski mentioned himself on the idea of him and Waller playing together.

Before the idea of Gronkowski, having Waller alone was a game-changer for the Giants offense. Now throw in someone like Gronkowski who is a legit game wrecker and it’s something most could only envision in either fantasy football or in Madden video games.

With the Giants ready to not only compete for the playoffs again, but possibly to go even further in 2023, having a player like Gronkowski makes sense since the Giants are competing right now to win. Sure, they are also looking to win in the future and both Schoen and Daboll are building the team for that, but they are also in a great position to turn heads right now as well. Imagine Gronk joining the offense too.

It’s worth at least a phone call. Even if it doesn’t happen for training camp and for Week 1, if it’s something for early to midseason, the idea of Gronkowski for the Giants is absolutely worth pursuing. Make the call, Mr. Schoen. Make Gronkowski want to play for Daboll and make one last stop on his career in East Rutherford wearing Giants Blue.

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