While discussing a rough weekend in which two of his brothers got released during the last batch of NFL cutdowns, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski looked like a kid who knew more than he was letting on.
"My one brother [Chris] got picked up on waivers by the Colts, so I'm glad for him," Gronkowski said Monday at Gillette Stadium. "I’ll be cheering for my brothers. One of them [Dan] is still out there. He's definitely a good tight end and I believe he’ll be picked up somewhere soon -- or he’ll be playing somewhere soon."
He said that last line with a smile that might have indicated he knew what was about to happen. According to the Twitter feeds of both Chris and Glenn Gronkowski (since deleted), the Patriots could be in the process of adding Dan Gronkowski, making it a two-Gronkowski locker room in New England.
The team has not officially announced any transaction and director of player personnel Nick Caserio suggested during a conference call Tuesday that no move was imminent.
Dan Gronkowski is a 6-foot-6, 255-pound tight end out of Maryland. He was drafted by Detroit in the 7th round (255th overall) of the 2009 draft. He appeared in two games for the Lions that year, then spent 14 games with the Denver Broncos in 2010 (catching eight passes for 65 yards).
The Patriots will need to make a corresponding roster move to add Dan Gronkowski, but it will fill a need at tight end, where the team carried only two second-year players -- Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez -- after Saturday's trim to 53 players.
Asked about the tight end depth on Tuesday -- before the Gronkowski Tweets started emerging -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick noted, "We’ll do whatever we can with our roster to improve our team, whatever position that is. Whenever we get an opportunity to improve the team, we’ll try to do that."
Added Caserio: "I would say [the lack of tight ends] really doesn’t impact us one way or another... The roster, as it currently stands today, could be different tomorrow, it could be different next week. So we’ll constantly look at it on a day-to-day and a week-to-week basis and whatever we feel is best for that particular week and that particular opponent based on the defensive scheme or the offensive scheme or however they play relative to how we’re going to play, then we’ll figure out who the best 45 are –- 46 this year -- for that game. And then we’ll look at it on a week-to-week basis like we always do."