Detroit Lions discussed trading for Rob Gronkowski, report says

In need of a tight end to replace Eric Ebron this offseason, the Detroit Lions discussed adding arguably the NFL's most dominant player at the position.

The New England Patriots reached out to the Lions this spring about a possible trade involving Rob Gronkowski, The MMQB's Albert Breer said in a Monday radio interview, per NESN.com.

"I don’t think they were shopping Gronk to the entire league, but there were some teams they trust that I know they talked to. Detroit, Tennessee, Houston, San Francisco — you guys can make the connections there," Breer said on The Herd With Colin Cowherd.

The Lions, like the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans, have deep ties to the Patriots, where several of their key decision makers got their start in the NFL.

General manager Bob Quinn spent 16 seasons in a variety of roles with the Patriots, and has consummated six trades with his old team in just over two years in his current job. First-year Lions coach Matt Patricia has a known soft spot for Gronkowski, and spent the last six seasons as Patriots defensive coordinator.

It's unclear how deep the trade talks went, or what the compensation would have been, but the Patriots ultimately decided against trading their All-Pro tight end, who was a no-show for most of the offseason program.

Gronkowski, at 6 feet 6 and 265 pounds, is one of the most unique players in the NFL, and a game-changer when healthy.

He caught 69 passes for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns last season, has five seasons of double-digit touchdowns in his eight-year career, and at 29 now appears to be in line for a new contract in New England.

In Detroit, Gronkowski would have paired with starting receivers Marvin Jones, Golden Tate and Kenny Golladay to give the Lions arguably the best passing offense in the league.

Matthew Stafford threw for 4,446 yards and 29 touchdowns last season for the Lions, Jones and Tate were the only receivers in the NFL to top 1,000 yards receiving for the same team, and Golladay had a promising 28-catch rookie season and is in line for an even bigger role this fall.

The Lions released Ebron in a cost-cutting move in March, just before the start of the league year, and after striking out on Trey Burton, signed Luke Willson and Levine Toilolo in free agency.

Willson, a Windsor native who's never had more than 22 catches in a season, will enter training camp this summer as the team's No. 1 tight end.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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