The ultimate champion Tom Brady and his fellow best friend Rob Gronkowski have set unfathomable high standards for the New England Patriots. Over the course of their respective careers, the future pro football Hall of Famers have established themselves as the greats. Brady holds the record for the most passing touchdowns in NFL postseason history, while Gronkowski’s 15 receiving touchdowns are the second-most in NFL postseason history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. The duo owes a lot of these stats to each other, as Rob Gronkowski had 620 catches for 9,275 yards and scored 93 touchdowns in 141 games with Tom Brady in his career.

After parting ways with both Brady and Gronk, New England Patriots are still trying to fill the voids left behind. In a recent turn of events, the Patriots traded their current tight end, Jonnu Smith, to the Falcons, hoping to look for a better alternative.

Rob Gronk’s shoes are hard to fill

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Patriots are trading tight end Jonnu Smith to the Falcons in exchange for a seventh-round pick.

The move is expected to clear enough salary cap for the Patriots, enabling them to reevaluate their options. The Patriots are set to clear more than $4 million in salary cap space, while Smith will be reunited with his former offensive coordinator and position coach with the Titans, Arthur Smith.

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Smith’s time with the Patriots could be assumed far from successful. He finished his tenure in a New England uniform with barely 55 catches for 539 yards and one touchdown.

But then again the man had big shoes to fill. Ever since Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots have been struggling at the tight end position. Gronk departed from the Patriots back in 2019, and the New England franchise has been trying its luck since then. The Patriots have so far turned to Ryan Izzo, Matt LaCosse, 39-year-old Ben Watson, Dalton Keene, Devin Asiasi, and Hunter Henry. But none of them panned out accordingly.

A legacy left behind

Rob Gronkowski has left behind an everlasting impression on the minds of every Patriots fan. Along with Tom Brady, Gronk went on to establish their dominance, winning multiple Super Bowl rings in the process.

When it comes to tight ends, Gronk stands alone at the top with the highest-ever average receiving yards per game, average yards per target, and average touchdowns per game. No wonder the man made it to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

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In addition to being a 4× Super Bowl champion, Gronk was also the recipient of 4× First-team All-Pro selections and 5× Pro Bowl selections.