FOXBORO — Rob Gronkowski is running down immortality.

Years from now, he’ll almost certainly have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so long as he doesn’t spike it into smithereens during his acceptance speech.

And then the question will be asked, so long as it hasn’t already been answered: Is Rob Gronkowski the greatest tight end in NFL history?

Surely, that might take another decade of production, perhaps another Super Bowl and undoubtedly better fortune with his health. But right now, just five full seasons into an already brilliant career, the most dominant offensive force in the league already has some of the game’s all-time greats fully onboard with this long-range forecast.

Tony Gonzalez, who is currently hailed by many as the best tight end ever, was asked point blank if Gronk can someday snatch his crown.

“Yes, absolutely,” said Gonzalez, who is also an analyst for the NFL on CBS. “I’ll say this, as long as he’s got Tom Brady there — and Tom says he wants to play another seven years until he’s 45 years old — he has a shot, absolutely.”

Mark Bavaro, who is Bill Belichick’s favorite tight end, was also high on Gronkowski.

“I think he is already one of the best tight ends you’re going to say that ever played the game,” Bavaro said. “If you want to say he’s the greatest of all-time, that just remains to be seen. Does he have the potential to do it? Absolutely.”

Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe said the historical debate had too many qualifications for anyone to be labeled the best, but it’s an open-and-shut case in the present day.

“Playing now, he’s the best tight end in football,” Sharpe said. “There’s no debating that.”

Gronkowski was humbled by the compliments, but he navigated around the notion that he could someday be the greatest to ever do it.

“I appreciate their comments and what they think,” Gronkowski said. “I’ve got much respect for all those players. I’ve looked up to them my whole career. I’m just focused on what I’ve got to do right now as a player and not really focused on what can happen in the future. I’m just trying to be the best player I can be.”

So, what would it take?

By the numbers

Gronkowski has 308 receptions for 4,379 yards and 54 touchdowns (plus one rushing touchdown) since entering the league in 2010. Despite missing 15 games during that stretch, Gronk is ranked sixth among tight ends in catches, third in yards and first in scores.

Gonzalez is the statistical standard for all tight ends, as he is the all-time leader in receptions (1,325), yards (15,127) and touchdowns (111). Gronkowski will likely break the scoring mark, but it’d take a long time to track down the other numbers, especially considering Gonzalez only missed two games in his 17-year career.

Through five seasons, Gronkowski has averaged 62 catches, 876 yards and 11 touchdowns. If he kept up that pace, he’d pass Gonzalez’ receptions in 2031, yards in 2027 and touchdowns in 2020. Gronkowski, by the way, would be 42 years old in 2031.

There’s another way to look at it, though. Take Gronk’s average stats per game, prorate them over a 16-game season (76 receptions, 1,078 yards, 13 touchdowns) and project those numbers for the remainder of his career on top of what he’s already piled up. This exercise ignores injuries, and under that scenario, Gronkowski would pass Gonzalez’ catches in 2028, yards in 2024 and touchdowns in 2019.

It’s all contingent on good health, but Gonzalez’ receptions mark appears unattainable at the moment. Then again, if Gronkowski closes down his career with at least 150 touchdowns, no one will care about the other two marks.

“That’ll go down,” Gonzalez said of the touchdown record. “But the career catches and yardage, that’s 17 years of me being awful damn lucky of never getting hurt and being able to play full seasons. I only missed two games. It’s tough and that’s just the nature of the beast. It’s a lot of luck. Gronkowski is running down the field and a guy takes his knee out on a cheap shot as far as I’m concerned, but that’s just how it goes. That could happen again. Hopefully not.”

The variables

Gronkowski’s career longevity, at least from a production standpoint, is tied to much more than his health, though. He is signed through 2019, assuming the Pats pick up the balance of his option bonus this offseason, so he isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until he is set to turn 31 years old.

And would a 43-year-old Brady be preparing for the 2020 season with the Patriots, or would the team be in the hands of Jimmy Garoppolo or some kid who is in high school at the moment? Or really, will Gronkowski even be in New England?

“He’s good because he’s good, but he’s also good because he has Brady throwing to him and he has Belichick coaching him,” Bavaro said. “The other thing is Brady’s years are numbered. I think we all can agree his time is coming to an end within the next few years. Is Garoppolo going to be able to light Gronkowski up like Brady has been doing? If he’s smart he would, but you never know. You’re talking about one of the greatest, if not the greatest quarterback of all-time, helping you get those numbers. So what happens when that guy is gone? He’s half the equation.”

It’s all one complicated projection with an unpredictable amount of layers, but long after Gronkowski’s career is over, the memories of his most dominant plays will fade and his resume will be defined by the record books. That’s how it always plays out.

“When it comes time to determining how good he was compared to the history of the game,” Bavaro said, “you’re going to have to remember the little things that he did — the fact that he could get open, the fact that he could catch balls with people on him, the fact that everybody in the world is trying to stop him and they couldn’t.”

Club Gronk

From a blocking sense, Gronkowski is no John Mackey or Mike Ditka, nor is he asked to be. But in today’s era, which isn’t comparable to the 1960s, Gronk might still be the best blocking tight end in the league, but there’s really no way to quantify that.

Then again, Club Gronk is an exclusive spot, and Colts safety Sergio Brown found out last season what happens when the patrons become unruly. Gronkowski is a brute in the running game, and the Patriots don’t waste his tenacity.

Gronkowski was on the field last season for all 17 of the Patriots’ rushing touchdowns, including four in the playoffs. Excluding Brady’s scrambling score against the Ravens, the Pats ran to Gronkowski’s side of the line on 13 of their 16 scoring plays, and Gronkowski’s block had a direct impact on five of those scores.

The old-school tight ends appreciate the modern-day players who still get their noses dirty.

“I guess he’s a throwback, but I hate that it’s being called a throwback now when it’s actually the definition of the position,” Gonzalez said. “You’re supposed to block and you’re supposed to catch. It’s frustrating, but I guess that’s me being nostalgic and old school, being that old disgruntled man like, ‘Back in my day, you had to block, and we had to walk 20 miles to school.’ That’s the way the position is going, so I love the tight ends who can come in and both block and catch because it helps (the team).

“If you’re going to call yourself a tight end, you better be able to block.”

Subjective analysis

Gronkowski’s platform exploded last season when he became a unanimous All-Pro and Super Bowl champion, and he was also in the MVP discussion as late as December. Gronk just breezed through his first injury-free offseason since 2011, when he set a record for tight ends with 18 total touchdowns, and he caught a team-high 45 passes from Brady during 16 training camp practices. He could be in for greater things this season.

“He might be better than we’ve ever seen him,” Sharpe said. “And that’s scary.”

The “best ever” debate could go in circles, though. Can Gronk ever do enough to be in former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor’s category as the undisputed king of their position? Otherwise, he’ll be in the discussion with Chiefs supporters for Gonzalez, Browns followers for Ozzie Newsome, Broncos advocates for Sharpe, Chargers fans for Kellen Winslow or Antonio Gates and Cowboys devotees for Jason Witten, among others.

And speaking of circles, Gronkowski’s partnership with Brady could devalue his accomplishments by antagonists, the same way Jerry Rice is sometimes taken down a notch because he played with Joe Montana and Steve Young.

There’s no disputing Gronk’s distinguishable star power and entertainment value, though, and that enhances a legendary status.

“What I love about him is he just doesn’t care,” Gonzalez said. “I love the dancing, the Gronk Spike, the stuff during the offseason. I don’t care.”

Gronkowski might be America’s favorite goofball, but he is a defensive coordinator’s nightmare. Since 2011, Gronk has been the integral catalyst of Brady’s offense, but he has consistently swatted aside linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks — and at times all at once — to take over games. He caught a touchdown pass in 13 of his 18 games last season, including all three postseason victories, when everyone in the building knew where the ball was destined.

“He’s not just catching balls when nobody is looking or when someone is focused on something else or it’s a trick play,” Bavaro said. “He is catching balls when everybody knows they’re going to throw to him. He’s catching balls when it’s third-and-5, and everyone says, ‘Just make sure Gronkowski doesn’t catch a ball,’ and he still does with two or three guys on him.

“He is that star running back from back in the 1980s and ’90s. He is that star receiver, that Jerry Rice and Randy Moss of his day back in the ’90s and early 2000s. He is that premier offensive weapon. He is 6-foot-6, 265 pounds, and in a good way, he’s a big goof. This is the guy the offense is built around for the most part. To be that integral of a player on offense today at tight end means you are unbelievable. I can’t stress that enough.”

Just five seasons into his career, Gronkowski has completely corralled the attention of some of the godfathers of his position. His talent and dominance are undeniable, and someday, his place in the game could be, too.

“I’m not really thinking about the long term,” Gronkowski said. “I’m thinking about what I can do to be the best player every time I step out on the field. Then everything will take care of itself from there.”