Rob Gronkowski pried open the door to a new ‘What if’ on Saturday night when he got UFC president Dana White to discuss recruiting both him and Tom Brady to the Raiders — a move that was apparently on the doorstep of happening before being scuttled by Jon Gruden ahead of the 2020 season, upsetting Brady in the process.

“Brady was not happy about it,” White said in a press conference after UFC 278 Saturday night.

White seemed to have little interest in telling the story on the UFC 278 GronkCast, but did nonetheless, and gave more detail on it afterward in the press conference.

“I didn’t want to talk about that, no, but [Gronkowski] sort of sucked me into it on live TV,” White told reporters. “Yeah, it’s true. I talked Brady into playing for the Raiders, and Gronk was coming with him. And they were negotiating the deal and they were really close to getting it done and then Gruden pulled the deal.”

If Gruden thought his abilities were diminishing, that was clearly a mistake, as Brady celebrated another Super Bowl victory at the end of that season. Evidently, he could have done so in Vegas. Perhaps there even would have been a parade down the Strip. We’ll never know.

“I own a f–king box there [at Allegiant Stadium],” White said. “I wanted Brady, you know what I mean?

“Crazy. But yeah, it’s true and I thought I’d never tell that story publicly. But, what the hell Gronk was doing, I hate that he brought that up, but yeah.”

Exactly what Gruden’s logic was in blowing up the deal is unclear. He didn’t turn out to be long for the head coaching job, resigning last October after emails in which he used homophobic and sexist language were revealed by the New York Times.

“It would’ve been amazing for the city, would’ve been amazing for the Raiders,” White said. “Their first year there, they got Brady and Gronk. So, yeah, I’m sure [owner] Mark Davis is real happy to hear this story.”