“Let’s Get That Window Down”
July 8th, 2022
Derrick Brooks talks Gronk.
Buccaneers icon Derrick Brooks has strong opinions when it comes to the Tampa Bay future of Rob Gronkowski.
Legendary No. 55 thinks Gronk can’t deliver what the Bucs might desire for a full season. Therefore, Gronk’s temporary retirement is a good thing. And Brooks believes the retirement is indeed temporary, per his chatter yesterday on WDAE radio.
“You saw how that wore him down last year,” Brooks said, referring to Gronk’s full season on the roster. “Now do I think he’s done here? Personally (laughs), no I don’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gronk is around … [when] the Bucs need to fit a role that they would need at that time. I don’t think they get the best out of Gronkowski signing him now and you have him for a 25-week season. He’s not that right now. He’s great, but over 25 weeks that’s hard to do.
“Now, let’s get that window down. Maybe it’s six weeks, maybe it’s eight weeks. Then you can start seeing, you know, that being a possibility. Again, if that’s out there.”
If the Bucs start the season without Gronk, then Joe would be all-in hoping the Bucs start playing so damn well that they don’t need Gronk to return.
Or, Joe would hope the Bucs use their roughly $12 million in current cap space to sign another free agent and worry about potentially paying Gronk later.
The Bucs can’t play too many games banking on a guy who believes he’s too weak for a full season. That’s not the best route to lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
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July 8th, 2022 at 10:33 am
Is a part time season the new thing? Seems ridiculous to me.
July 8th, 2022 at 10:35 am
But I’ll take it- for that matter, I hope we get Gronk, Suh, and JPP part time
July 8th, 2022 at 10:41 am
The fact that JPP and Suh aren’t on anybody’s roster says much
July 8th, 2022 at 11:04 am
Think back to two years ago. Was Antonio Brown coming to the Bucs midseason “ridiculous?” Was just the shot in the arm the team needed.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:07 am
“The fact that JPP and Suh aren’t on anybody’s roster says much”
Yes it does.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:14 am
Why can’t they create a special contract for him? Put in less time – maybe a half-season? I know it would be rare (a first) but he is a special player. IMO – would be worth the criticism to get him. And do it now – to eliminate the worries and guessing.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:23 am
I just don’t know why he wouldn’t come in just before the start of the season, play in spots in crunch time, and limit his number of plays to keep him fresh. He and AB are both great players. But I don’t know that his position, training and such isn’t different enough from AB’s that coming in before mid-season would be very beneficial for him. But the bottom line is that if DB says he can do it well, who am I to argue?
July 8th, 2022 at 11:24 am
Really innovative concept
Grab vets, familiar with your system, the second half of the year to push the team over the top. We saw the Rams do it last year with OBJ. The vet, the team win, and the fans win. I LOVE THIS!
Pay attention. This may be the new trend in the NFL.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:33 am
Make a play for disgruntled Dallas TE Dalton Schultz and be done with it.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:34 am
I think he needs time to regenerate his body.
He will be back after our first 8 games.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:34 am
This is like the dude pining over that girl that left him and isnt coming back, but instead of the dude its Bucs fans and in place of the girl its Gronk. At some point, something or nothing will happen and we’ll have to make due with what we got.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:35 am
Yes, star players will opt for a part time schedule, as long as teams allow it and the NFL wants to add more games to the schedule. In response, the NFL might expand rosters, create more flexible rules for practice squads, increase the salary cap (maybe a QB exception?), and more importantly, limit players to play in only 15 games. The quality of play on the field might decline, but it’s going to be tough for players to make it through 17-18+ game seasons.
July 8th, 2022 at 11:51 am
No way a guy Gronks age can come in and play like the last 7 games of the season and contribute. Think how out of shape he’d be. Can we just focus on the players we have, and not the ones who are to old, and beat to play.
July 8th, 2022 at 12:05 pm
It was that violent rib injury last year. Gronk said it felt like a ‘gunshot’ and it was actually a very serious injury, so that has him taking a step back.
But if/when the Bucs are in the heat of a playoff/SB run later this season, we can count on Gronk being there to perform at an elite level for us (Brady) in the clutch. Take that to the bank
July 8th, 2022 at 12:24 pm
My only point is that I think it would be great to ensure he is in 100% football shape when the time comes that we really need him. That doesn’t mean taking those big hits. But it would mean getting in early enough to be in complete condition,and limiting his playing time and situations.
July 8th, 2022 at 12:27 pm
Being in football shape is different than being in shape I don’t see him coming back. Just because tom did something doesn’t mean it’s a trend but just a slow news cycle but What career he has had awesome that he was here as long as he was now time to move on bucs don’t need to replace him because it’s impossible gronk is the best to ever do it they will adjust to life without him.
July 8th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
We don’t have time for games. Either he wants to play, or he doesn’t. He’s not on the team right now, so we need to be focusing on those who are.
July 8th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
Well, the theory *is* “save some cap space for later down the road for injury, etc.”, so it makes sense.
July 8th, 2022 at 1:00 pm
I say dont wait on him – those first 4 games are HUGE
Make a move now to secure a vet
Brady can make good players play like better players
AND, bring back Suh or JPP – both of them are warriors and freaks of nature – something you just cant teach.
July 8th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
SUH
July 8th, 2022 at 1:34 pm
Instead of retirement, couldn’t he have been signed and placed in IR?
July 8th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
BucNole… kind of what I”m also saying. A few key plays in the redzone offense could make a world of difference in some of those early games. Why not have him available for some key situations when it might be the difference between being on the road and home field advantage? Limit him.. give him days off…. whatever. Get him in football condition… use him surgically. But especially if Godwin is slow to get into form, his contribution could be season changing.
July 8th, 2022 at 3:39 pm
‘Or, Joe would hope the Bucs use their roughly $12 million in current cap space to sign another free agent and worry about potentially paying Gronk later.’
Aahh yes Joe, agree about signing another free agent … SUH.
Also agree with Beej … ‘The fact that JPP and Suh aren’t on anybody’s roster says much’. Yes it does, but maybe not what you’re thinking Beej. PERHAPS Suh has an ‘understanding’ with the Bucs that he won’t come on-board until later in training camp, or maybe even until early in the season? Isn’t that what many seem to be ASSUMING about Gronk?
Or MAYBE Suh, being 35 now, doesn’t want to start all over someplace else (for what, a year?) and is willing to roll the dice on the Bucs. Or retire. I don’t know what JL thinks of Suh, but what Todd Bowles thinks of him is pretty obvious IMO (he’s Bowles kind of player for sure). And Bowles also values LEADERSHIP big-time, and that’s what Suh provides.
Suh will be back this season as a Buc. Hmmm, reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s classic line from ‘The Terminator’ … ‘I’ll be baack’.
July 8th, 2022 at 3:58 pm
Oh and Joe, since you brought up the salary CAP, the way that JL & his staff have structured it is fascinating. We’ll pay for it next year (and for several years after that), but that’s the cost of going ALL-IN FOR 2022. And since this will most likely be Tom Brady’s last year with us, hopefully our all-in approach gets us to the Super Bowl.
One thing that stands out is that there are 2 contracts that haven’t been reworked yet: Donovan Smith & Lavonte David. Together they’re making over $33 mil … which is the same as the bottom 29 of our Top-51 players are making (almost all of those will surely make the team).
So I keep wondering … WHY haven’t the Bucs reworked those 2 contracts yet to make more money available? MAYBE because we don’t need to … at this point (we still have a lot of questions to answer at this point it seems and $12.5 mil is plenty to work with for the time being)? Or MAYBE Bucs have already decided to move on from both players next season & don’t want to incur any excessive costs?
And oh ya, why have we already worked contracts with all our rookies EXCEPT Hall & Otton? Rookies don’t play hard-to-get any more.
July 8th, 2022 at 5:20 pm
Gronk-a-day Friday…
July 8th, 2022 at 6:26 pm
I feel like folks don’t remember how long it took Gronk to get up to speed when he came back from retirement the first time. It’s not like he walked in and set the world on fire–it took over half the season.
July 8th, 2022 at 6:30 pm
Suh is a generational talent.
If the Bucs diddle now,
They will snivel later.
July 8th, 2022 at 6:39 pm
I, too, have been wondering about our unsigned rookies. I thought they all got basically the same 5 year contract..??
July 8th, 2022 at 11:05 pm
Suh makes everyone better ,,,,in practice and on the field, absolute Hall of Fame Stud !!! Jpp was hurt the first game of the season and btw I’ve had his injury and it’s bad ……….but he just can’t move like he used too and game one 10 plays in ,,,I told random guy next to me JPP is really hurt and hid it through camp or he’s just done ??
July 8th, 2022 at 11:17 pm
Yes, JPP was hurt. But there must be tape on JPP before he was hurt that is spooking teams.
Agree with what you typed about Suh. Thing is, with Suh and JPP, there are 31 organizations besides the Bucs with less than three weeks before training camp that have also turned their noses up on Suh and JPP. This includes some of the smartest men in football including Belicheat, Sean McVay, the Steelers, just to name a few. These teams either think both players are asking for way too much cash, are washed up or that neither one has a full season left in them.
No matter how you slice it, it is very, very telling that less than three weeks before camps open, Suh and JPP are still looking for work.
Suh was in talks with the Raiders. Nothing happened. JPP was brought in to work out for the Crows. He’s still unsigned.
July 9th, 2022 at 7:26 am
I’m just in who cares mode with this guy. Not on the roster, won’t be in camp, won’t start the season when we have a tough 4 game stretch. Just walk away.
July 9th, 2022 at 10:30 am
I get it but the problem is they’re without him and Godwin for the first third of the season in these scenarios. Then they both come back, and that is great, but it also disrupts the passing game that started being established.
July 9th, 2022 at 11:04 pm
10 week window:
3 weeks during reg season to get back into football shape
3 weeks during reg season to get back into dominant Gronk mode
4 weeks post season to dominate and win one last SB
Maybe add 2 more reg season games in there just to be safe…