Rob Gronkowski Was Nearly Traded To Lions, Report Says
BOSTON (CBS) – The Patriots take on the Detroit Lions Sunday night. If things went how a new report claims they were headed, the game would have marked Rob Gronkowski's first meeting against his former team.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Sunday that the teams were "deep" in trade talks, which peaked the week of the NFL Draft.
Gronkowski threatened to retire when he discovered he could be traded to the Lions, Schefter reported. At that point, the trade fell apart and the Patriots instead tweaked the star tight end's contract and he remained in New England.
The report lines up with a previous story from Ian Rapoport, who said trade talks were "pretty intense" but Gronkowski ended them by saying he would rather retire than play for a quarterback other than Tom Brady.
