Former tight end Rob Gronkowski believes that Tom Brady‘s 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers boasted an absurd level of top-to-bottom talent, even calling it the most skilled team he ever played on. While his New England Patriots squads were paragons of execution and coaching, the ’20 Bucs roster was heavily stacked with elite playmakers on both sides of the ball in Gronk’s view.

“Oh man, the 2020 Bucks—I would say skill-wise, I think that team was probably the best skill set team I’ve ever been on throughout my career on that team,” Gronkowski said on 4th And South with Jarvis Landry & Leonard Fournette on May 2, 2026. “Like on the Bucks. I mean, we had everyone, dude. We had Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Lenny, Cam Brate, and then our other running back, Ronald Jones.”

The 2020 Buccaneers did finish 2nd in the NFC South with an 11-5 record, trailing the New Orleans Saints. They finished with an 11-5 record and then went on to win Super Bowl LV by beating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in a dominant performance.

That year, the team players also set a lot of records. Brady threw a franchise-record 40 touchdown passes and had the best passer rating in team history at 102.2. Mike Evans had 13 receiving touchdowns, another team record, and also made history by becoming the first wide receiver in the NFL to have over 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first seven seasons.

As a team, they scored 492 points and had 59 total touchdowns, both new records. Ryan Succop set a record, too, with 136 points in a single season. They also went on an eight-game winning streak during the season.

After their Week 13 bye, the offense really took off. In the postseason, the Buccaneers scored over 30 points in all four games on their way to the title. They also became the first team to score at least 30 points in three straight playoff road games. With Leonard Fournette leading the run game, they averaged over 120 rushing yards per game in the playoffs, which was much higher than in the regular season.

Meanwhile, the defense also improved a lot. They jumped to 6th in total yards allowed, up from 15th the year before. They also got better against the pass and in points allowed, moving from 29th to 8th.

Rob Gronkowski has often talked about how demanding things were in New England, describing the Patriots as a place with a strict structure and tightly controlled routine under Bill Belichick. When he got to Tampa Bay, though, the experience felt different. He’s said there was more freedom to just be himself, and that looser, more relaxed environment helped him play at a high level in a way that felt more natural.

Rob Gronkowski credits total team effort for championship run

Rob Gronkowski pointed out just how loaded that offense was. He named players like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette, Cam Brate, and Ronald Jones II as part of a deep and successful group.

He explained that even though many of them were used to being the main option, they bought into a team mindset where everyone shared the spotlight. According to him, great teams are built on players who can be number one or number two without ego, and that is what made it work.

“It’s not about competing with each other.” Rob Gronkowski added, “It’s about how you work with each other, how we use the skill set of this number one tight end or that number one tight end, and where everything works together. And that’s what we figured out, though.”

He also gave credit to role players like Scotty Miller, who stepped up in big moments, like his touchdown against the Green Bay Packers. It showed that everyone on the roster was ready when their moment came. This is not the first time he has talked about it, either. After winning three Super Bowls in New England, he described his time in Tampa as a completely different experience.

“Coming here, it’s a complete 180, for sure, totally different,” Gronkowski said via JoeBucsFan.com in 2021. “I mean, I feel like the biggest difference is just having the freedom of being yourself in this organization.”

In the end, it carries even more weight coming from Rob Gronkowski, who spent years with the Patriots and understands both teams firsthand.