Gronk Thinks Mayfield’s Return to Tampa Bay Is Contingent on Playoff Success
Last month, Gronk told me he was a "maybe" on Tampa Bay bringing Mayfield back, contingent on playoff success; now it looks like regardless of today's Detroit outcome, Mayfield should be back
Just in time for Fantasy Football playoffs, NFL legend Rob Gronkowski made a triumphant return to Capitol Hill, where he continued his advocacy on behalf of awareness of Valley Fever, a fungal disease that heavily affects Arizona–where the greatest tight end in history went to college before the New England Patriots drafted him in the second round in 2010.
I caught up with the legendary football star again last month, and asked him about everything from politics to the NFL draft. Last time we chatted, he told me that he wouldn’t rule out a run for office down the road. This time, we spoke about his two NFL teams: the Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Given that his former Bucs are in the midst of their ongoing improbable playoff bid, let’s focus on what he thinks they should do this offseason–where some of their biggest questions are on the offensive side of the ball, with wide receiver Mike Evans likely looking elsewhere in free agency and with quarterback Baker Mayfield leading them to another playoff berth and a third consecutive NFC South championship, which is a harder task when you don’t have Tom Brady, the greatest athlete in human history, at the helm.
When I spoke with Gronk, the playoff odds of the Bucs were wildly uncertain, so he gave Mayfield a qualified “maybe” on whether Tampa Bay should bring him back. Since then, Mayfield has played himself into a potential comeback player of the year award. While that will likely go to the Bills’ Damar Hamlin, Mayfield salvaged his career that was in open question following years of cringe Hulu ads and time on four NFL teams after the Cleveland Browns picked him at number one overall.
In the playoffs so far, Mayfield has already totally destroyed the Philadelphia Eagles, who were at one point regarded as the best team in the league, and he plays the Detroit Lions this afternoon.
Barring a total collapse in Detroit, Mayfield has probably earned the right to play in Tampa again–both sides have already indicated interest in him returning to play in a state where the is no state income tax.
Other than in the secondary, the Lions are incredibly well-rounded–but given that the Bucs rank dead-last in rushing yards this year, it’s very possible that Mayfield can carve them up this afternoon with help from Evans, Chris Godwin, and even Trey Palmer, and will play the 49ers next week.
Unfortunately for the Lions, Palmer woke up pissed off again this morning–and there’s an almost perfect causation between Palmer being pissed off in the morning and him scoring TDs.
Based on what Gronk told me, and how Mayfield has played since, it’s looking like he’ll return next year, regardless of whether he pulls a Tom Brady and brings another Super Bowl to Tampa in his first year with the team.