5 players who should also unretire and play with Tom Brady

Rob Gronkowski is reuniting with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay, and these five players should also come out of retirement and join the party.

When he was making the free agency rounds, Tom Brady reportedly told teams he wanted to bring Rob Gronkowski with him. Buzz about it happening with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers grew, and the reunion was formalized with a trade this week.

The Buccaneers are clearly going Super Bowl or bust for the next two years while Brady is under center. Every move they make–signings, trades, draft picks–will be made with that time frame in mind. Bruce Arians is also a relative win-now coach, as an older head coach with past health concerns.

It’s easy to speculate on who else has familiarity with Brady and might ask for a trade to Tampa Bay. Wide receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola are the most obvious, and former Patriots defensive end Ron Ninkovich joked about a comeback.

But, with varying levels of seriousness and viability or with tongue somewhat in cheek, here are five players who should unretire and follow Gronkowski to the party in “Tompa Bay.”

5. Calvin Johnson

Like fellow former Detroit Lion Barry Sanders, “Megatron” called it a career too early. Over nine seasons, had over, 11,600 receiving yards and 83 touchdowns. His final season, 2015 at age-30, was hardly a sign he should call it quits (88 receptions for 1,214 yards and nine touchdowns).

After four seasons out and approaching 35 years old now, Johnson is probably done playing football. But maybe, just maybe, the possibility of sunshine in Tampa Bay and a team fully in win-now mode would be enough coax him out of retirement.