5 potential trade destinations for Rob Gronkowski

3. Houston Texans

The Texans didn’t have much at tight end to start with, the retirement for C.J. Fiedorowicz after three concussions last season leaves them even thinner on talent. They do have numbers on their current depth chart (Ryan Griffin, Stephen Anderson, Ryan Malleck, MyCole Pruitt etc), but no one is anywhere near Gronkowski’s level.

With over $34 million in cap space now (via Over The Cap), Houston can take on Gronkowski’s salary this year with no issue at all. But since they don’t have their first-round pick this year, as it went to the Browns when they traded up for Deshaun Watson last year, a future first-round pick and a current player will probably be what it takes to get New England’s attention in any trade talks involving Gronkowski.

The Texans have a clear need at tight end, which could be addressed more affordably in the draft once they have picks starting in the second round. But a move to get Gronkowski would be bold in a quest to move quickly back to the top of a wide-open AFC South, and rest of the AFC would be on notice with Watson coming back from a torn ACL.