FAB 2. How Long Will The Bucs Have Brady And Gronk?

Bucs general manager Jason Licht and head coach Bruce Arians landed the team’s biggest free agent signing in Tampa Bay’s history this offseason in quarterback Tom Brady, regarded as the greatest quarterback in NFL history, signing him to a two-year deal worth $50 million.

Bucs TE Rob Gronkowski and QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

A few weeks after adding Brady, the Bucs lured former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski out of retirement and acquired him in a trade with New England. The 31-year old Gronkowski has one year left on his contract and is set to earn $9.25 million in 2020.

John Spytek, Tampa Bay’s director of player personnel, said that an honest film evaluation showed the Bucs’ front office and coaching staff that the team would still be getting elite caliber talent with those additions – not just star players that achieved greatness in their past, combining for three Super Bowl wins over the last decade.

“When we watched their film they can still play,” Spytek said. “It’s great that they have their Pro Bowls and their Super Bowls in their past, but the way I view my job is that when we bring them into the building they still have to have something left in the tank and they can still play. Obviously, these two can. It’s been a year for Gronk, but when we watched the last couple of games of the 2018 season and the Super Bowl we saw an elite level tight end. Obviously, the wild card with him is having the year off, but he’s not 40 years old. He can play at a high level.”

“Watching Tom, I’ve marveled at him throughout his career and how he’s played at an elite level with everyone waiting for him to fall off a cliff because he’s getting older. But it’s a testament to his process and the things he’s been willing to do, and it just hasn’t happened. He really didn’t show any signs of him on tape playing to the level of his age that so many would expect.”

The question now isn’t whether the 42-year old Brady and the 31-year old Gronkowski can still play at a high level. It’s how long they will play in Tampa Bay.

For that answer I turned to someone who has covered both superstars for years in New England, ESPN Patriots beat reporter Mike Reiss.

“In all of those years of covering him – bet against Tom at your own peril,” Reiss said. “I’m not going to. I would be honest if I really felt like there was a decline in his play, but I don’t know how you could do that without a more full accounting of what he had around him last year.

Patriots QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Getty Images

“Brady, to me, if he says he’ll play until 45, then I’d say 45. Last year I thought he was trying to do what no quarterback had ever done in the league – start every game at age 42, and he did it with ease. He made it look easy and I know that there is a lot of work that goes into making that happen. I think he’ll be able to do that again one year later.”

Playing until age 45 means two, perhaps three seasons with the Buccaneers, as Brady turns 43 on August 3. Brady has been relatively healthy throughout his NFL career, starting all 16 games since the 2009 season except for missing four games in 2016. Brady played through foot and elbow injuries last year.

Part of the reason why Brady has been so durable is his self-preservation awareness. He’s not afraid to check the ball down if his first read isn’t open, nor is he afraid to throw the ball out of bounds or curl up in the fetal position and take a sack if the pocket crumbles, rather than open himself up for a big shot.

Brady was sacked 27 times in New England last year, which was 20 times fewer than Jameis Winston was in Tampa Bay during the 2019 season. Arians’ vertical passing attack calls on his quarterback to hold on to the ball a little longer for routes to develop downfield. Reiss said that could open up Brady to take more hits and possibly get more banged up as a result in 2020.

“I think the one part I’m going to be fascinated to watch is that he did that well in the Patriots offense, which was traditionally a quick-hitting system – get the ball out fast,” Reiss said. “Maybe that still is the case in Tampa, but with the vertical nature of the passing game, will he be required to hold on to the football and does that affect the ability to self-preserve? Is that something that is legitimate?”

Bucs TE Rob Gronkowski – Photo by: Getty Images

There is little self-preservation to Gronkowski’s game. He’s a physical blocker at the point of attack, and a fearless weapon in the passing game going across the middle of the field and working the seam. Injuries to his elbow, back, forearm and thigh have taken their toll on Gronkowski, who told PewterReport.com and other Bucs reporters on a conference call that his body is feeling good after a year off from football, outside of his thigh.

“I think it’s really an unknown how long he plays for,” Reiss said. “I think part of me would like to believe the year off helped him, and I read a really good column up here in the Boston Globe by Tara Sullivan, one of the columnists, who talked to Mark Bavarro, the old Giants tight end, who took a year off and came back. He said the year off really helped him. He felt fresh after not having all of those collisions after a year. That would be great if it happened for Rob because he’s a good guy and he’s good for the league. You want to see him succeed.

“But the other part of it for me is whether that’s overly optimistic because the last season he played in New England wasn’t peak Gronk. He still made that big play against the Rams in the Super Bowl, but there was another game against the Chiefs and he came up to Brady at the end of the game and he said, ‘Thanks for coming to me when we needed it.’ And Brady said, ‘What are you talking about? Of course I’m going to come to you.’ But it was almost like Gronk saying, ‘Yeah, but I’m not the same guy. I don’t feel the same way as I did in my prime.’ He was probably more effective as a blocker that year than he was as a pass catcher. Is he going to go back to being what he was in his prime? That’s probably overly optimistic, but maybe it’s a better version than what we saw in that final season in New England because he was dealing with a lot of injuries to be fair. For Gronk, I’m a little more hesitant to guess how long he plays for because of all of his injuries and he plays a different position where there is a more banging going on.”

Reiss noted that Gronkowski was the lone tight end in New England over the last couple of years and that whether he was banged up or not, Gronkowski would play virtually all the snaps on offense.

Bucs TE O.J. Howard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I really like the idea that the Bucs kept O.J. Howard and they have Cam Brate,” Reiss said. “Gronk would play every snap if he were healthy. Now he can limit that and reduce the snaps down a little bit. I like the sound of that, and it increases his odds for playing longer.”

Whether it’s one year, two years or three years, the Bucs appear to be a playoff-caliber team and a legitimate Super Bowl contender with the addition of Brady and Gronkowski, and Tampa Bay is going to enjoy it as long as the team has them in red and pewter.

“They’ve had a level of success that we haven’t had here,” Spytek said. “We’ve been trying to add guys that have been there and know what it takes and have lived it and experienced it. I think they both can and will bring a lot to the table from that standpoint for sure.”