Broncos GM George Paton has interesting response to Rob Gronkowski rumors

Legendary NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski hasn't played football since the 2021-22 season, but he's already come out of retirement once before. Why not do it again in 2025? And do it for the Denver Broncos.

In all seriousness, a return to the field for Rob Gronkowski in 2025 is extremely far-fetched, but it was reported at the NFL Scouting Combine that he's considering it and that the Broncos would be on his list of teams he'd want to play for. Gronkowski is going to turn 36 years old in May and maybe he figures getting from 92 to 100 touchdown receptions could further fortify his Hall of Fame case.

You never know.

Regardless of the realism or validity of the rumors, it's interesting to think about and you rarely get the actual team's general manager to make comments about something like this. Denver Broncos GM George Paton was asked about the Gronkowski rumors and while he made light of it, he also had an interesting comment in response...

Broncos GM George Paton responds to Rob Gronkowski rumors

Paton, after joking that he just signed him on the way to the interview he's doing, said, "That's pretty cool he wants to be a Bronco."

If anything, don't put something odd like this past Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who is a master recruiter. He was already making recruiting pitches to Gronkowski two years ago when he worked with him at FOX by telling him he could get him up to that 100 touchdown mark.

Through the years, Gronkowski has maintained that he doesn't want to come back to playing football and that he's happy with where he's at in his post-playing days. And in all likelihood, that's where he will stay. Having been out of the game since the end of the 2021 season, Gronk is now just two years away from potentially being a first-ballot Hall of Famer at his position.

Having watched his entire career unfold, I would argue he's the best tight end in the history of the league. Very few players had the impact we saw from Gronkowski, who was just as elite of a blocker as he was a receiver.

Maybe just as interesting as what Broncos GM George Paton did say is what he didn't say in this interview. He was asked if there was any truth to the rumors and while he joked about signing him and said it was cool that he wants to be a Bronco, he never actually said that there was no truth to the rumors.

Might just be something to file away this offseason if the Broncos end up needing to "break glass in case of emergency". If Gronkowski likes the idea of playing with Bo Nix, he's probably still got it in him to go out there on the field and make an impact as a receiver.