Rob Gronkowski's Agent Drew Rosenhaus Talks Trade's Impact on Patriots Cap Space

The New England Patriots traded Rob Gronkowski on Tuesday, but only after he did them a favor, at least according to his agent.  

Drew Rosenhaus appeared on SportsCenter (h/t Mike Reiss of ESPN) and said, "Rob could have come out of retirement, and become reinstated, and put the Patriots in a tough situation cap-wise. But he decided not to do that. He decided to be patient and really allow this to work out."

The comments came after ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Patriots traded Gronkowski and a seventh-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a fourth-round pick.

Schefter also reported Gronkowski passed his physical and was only willing to play in Tampa Bay alongside Tom Brady if he was going to come out of retirement.

Gronkowski entered the league as a second-round pick of the Patriots in 2010 and established himself as one of the best tight ends in NFL history over nine seasons. He built a stellar resume with three championships, five Pro Bowl selections, four All-Pro nods and a Comeback Player of the Year award while surpassing 1,000 receiving yards four times and reaching double-digit touchdowns five times.

As of now, the Buccaneers also have O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate at the position, although they could make another move.

"I think Howard's got a great name, but I think there's an instinctive issue going on. I think he's going to be available," Michael Lombardi said on the GM Shuffle podcast with Adnan Virk (h/t Greg Auman of The Athletic).

As for Gronkowski's contract, he has one year and $9 million remaining. According to Over The Cap, the Patriots have just more than $1.2 million in total cap space in 2020, ahead of only the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams.

From New England's perspective, it was able to trade a player who likely wouldn't have suited up for the team this season after retiring prior to the 2019 campaign and land a draft asset in return.