I don't think our interest in TEs at the deadline was a ruse. And because of that, I don't see us trading for a guy if we truly expected a Gronk return and using up a lot of the precious cap space we have left when we can barely afford half of Gronk's contract as it is.
Yes, we can always push money into the future and fit him in. But Belichick recently gave the impression he's not ready to retire soon. Has anything he's done over the last 20 years led you to believe he would go for broke and do all he could to win one more Super Bowl with the team, but continue to coach for several years with a gutted roster because of cap issues?
As for Gronk, he justifiably felt underpaid for several years. Do you see him volunteering to cut his remaining salary to fit under the cap?
I think we tried to get OJ Howard because we wanted OJ Howard. In the end, we didn't want him enough to give up what the team considered too much draft capital. (Another sign of Belichick not going all in for one more title) I don't think we tried to land Howard to team him with Gronk, who we could afford even less now.