Rob Gronkowski let the world know that he’s retiring on Tuesday, but the Buccaneers got a little bit of a heads up on the announcement.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Gronkowski let the Bucs know what he was planning last week. The Bucs had wrapped up their offseason with a mandatory minicamp the week before.
The Bucs have not used that knowledge to make any moves at tight end. That leaves them with a group fronted by Cam Brate as they move toward training camp this summer.
Brate has 253 catches for 2,683 yards and 33 touchdowns in 115 career games with the Bucs. Tampa also has Codey McElroy, who has one catch for 30 yards in three career appearances, and four rookies. Fourth-rounder Cade Otton and sixth-rounder Ko Kieft are joined by undrafted signings Ben Beise and JJ Howland.
That group could expand now that Gronkowski has announced his retirement, but the Bucs could also give it a little time to see if the retirement is going to stick before making any other plans at the position.