Rob Gronkowski says Tom Brady couldn't hide his excitement when his former tight end said he was considering returning to the NFL

• Rob Gronkowski told James Corden on "The Late Late Show" that when he teased returning to football to Tom Brady, the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback couldn't contain his excitement.
• Gronkowski was traded to the Buccaneers on April 21, in a whirlwind move that saw him come out of retirement and then land with his former teammate.
• Brady had reportedly floated the idea of he and Gronkowski being a package deal to teams in free agency.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the splashiest offseason in the NFL, signing Tom Brady in free agency, then landing Rob Gronwkoski in a trade.

Gronkowski's return to the NFL was somewhat unexpected and happened in a whirlwind: within an hour, reports went from Gronkowski wanting to return to the New England Patriots and Buccaneers negotiating trades, to Gronkowski landing in Tampa Bay.

Gronkowski was a guest on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" and said that when he told Brady he was thinking about returning to the NFL, Brady couldn't contain his excitement.

"I was like, 'Oh man, Tom, I've been thinking about football a little bit — I'm just teasing with him — and he's like, 'Oh!' I could just tell he's getting all excited," Gronkowski told Corden.

When Gronkowski said he thought Tampa Bay could possibly a good, new opportunity for him, Brady apparently shrieked.

"He just screams on the phone, 'Rob, I just want you to come back and play with me!'

"I was like, 'Alright, alright, I'll come back and play with you, Tom. No problem.'"

Gronkowski may be embellishing details a little bit. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport previously said on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Morning Show" that he had Brady floated the idea of he and Gronkowski being a package deal in free agency.

"I don't know if [Brady] said, 'I just spoke to Gronk, and he wants to come back.' But I do believe it was something that was brought up in discussions with teams, with Bruce Arians, Jason Licht, with the Chargers people. I never got the sense it was like, alright, this is in the bag we're both coming back," Rapoport said. "It was more like, 'Here is what I want to do. If this is something you guys want to do let's explore.'"

Rapoport added: "[Brady] told people during the process, teams in the process who were actually interested in offers that he wanted to bring Gronk with him. "

Gronkowski retired in 2018 but was still under contract with the Patriots. As Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston reported, Gronkowski used his leverage — the Patriots' cap sheet, his lack of willingness to return to the Patriots — to get a trade to Tampa Bay.

After a lack of elite offensive weapons in 2019, Brady now has Gronkowski, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin at his disposal.

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