First Call: Joe Manganiello narrates Sidney Crosby doc; progress on Aaron Donald contract; Tom Brady update; Gronk to Bills?

In Thursday’s “First Call,” Hollywood star Joe Manganiello channels his Western Pennsylvania roots as narrator of a new Sidney Crosby documentary.

Also, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may not look kindly on Tom Brady going elsewhere if he comes out of retirement. The Buffalo Bills may try to bring Rob Gronkowski home to Western New York. It looks like Aaron Donald is going to keep playing.

And is it really true that no one is calling Green Bay to inquire about Aaron Rodgers?

Joe on Sid

Pittsburgh-born actor Joe Manganiello spoke to ESPN about his recent narration of Audible’s Plus Catalogue’s audio documentary “Sidney Crosby: Rookie Year.”

The documentary details Crosby’s meteoric rise from Nova Scotia youth phenom to being the top pick in the 2005 NHL draft. Then it winds through his first season with the previously struggling Pittsburgh Penguins.

“In another profession, he would be considered a child star,” Manganiello told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “And we all know how that generally goes, unfortunately. But he could handle it; he was primetime ready. And what was underneath all of that was the added pressure of the fact that the team was on the verge of bankruptcy and going to leave Pittsburgh.”

The documentary also gets into some background of Crosby’s time living with owner/player Mario Lemieux and his immediate rivalry with Alexander Ovechkin.

Manganiello (“True Blood,” “Magic Mike”) won an Emmy award in 2017 for narrating, “Pittsburgh is Home: The Story of the Penguins.”

Donald not done

It appears that concern over Aaron Donald’s potential retirement is fading.

The Los Angeles Rams star let it be known in a pregame Super Bowl interview that retirement could be on the table if the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals to win the title. After that happened, the Penn Hills grad did little to tamp down the conversation.

But now, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Rodrigue, talks are moving forward on a potential contract extension between the former Pitt standout and the Rams.

Les Snead sounds confident that Rams and Aaron Donald will be in a good place - including contractually - as they move through the offseason. Team, Donald’s team have had discussions about contract. “I never say anything w certainty (but) that’s not a concern right now.”

— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) March 2, 2022

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year already has a contract through the 2024 season. It was a record six-year, $135 million extension back in 2019. It included nearly $87 million guaranteed.

However, via CBS Sports, 22 NFL players are slated to make more than him in terms of average annual salary for 2022. As of now, Donald has a $26.75 million cap hit.

Say that again?

“Ex”-NFL quarterback Tom Brady is doing little to quell rumors that his retirement from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be short lived.

The future Hall of Famer made an appearance with golfer Fred Couples on SiriusXM radio Wednesday. Via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, at one point, Couples said to Brady, “Maybe you can tell us where you’re going?”

Brady’s answer was far from forthcoming.

“I wish I had a clear vision of what the future holds,” Brady said. “I said right after football season I was looking forward to spending more time with my family. And I’ve done that the last five weeks. And I know there’ll be a lot more of that, too.

“I like staying busy, that’s for sure. I played a little bit of golf and I’m actually going to see my parents tonight. Looking forward to some golf in the next few days and some more family time, and then we’ll figure out where we go from there.”

Rumors have persisted that Brady only retired to re-open his options to play elsewhere besides Tampa. ProFootballTalk is still advancing the notion that it may be San Francisco.

For his part, head coach Bruce Arians said the team would not accommodate Brady’s desire to just move to another team, calling it “bad business.” The ex-Steelers offensive coordinator said it would take “five No. 1” draft picks to get Brady in a trade.

Heading home?

Meanwhile Bucs tight end Rob Gronkowski could also be considering retirement. Or he may be considering a move to his hometown team.

No, Steelers fans, I don’t mean Pittsburgh because of his one year at Woodland Hills. I’m talking about the Bills up in Buffalo. That’s where Gronkowski was born and played high school football for the first three years of his career prior to going to the University of Arizona.

And eventually superstardom with the New England Patriots. Then retirement. Then more success with Tampa.

But now, according to The Athletic, the Bills have an interest in bringing the Williamsville, N.Y., native back home.

Gronkowski is about to become a free agent. But some roadblocks do stand in the way, such as Gronk’s 33rd birthday looming in May. He cost $8 million against the Bucs’ cap last year. And the Bills just got 587 yards and nine touchdowns out of current tight end Dawson Knox.

For his career against Buffalo, the Western New York product went 14-2 against the Bills, totaled 72 catches for 1,132 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those are all career highs against any opponent.

After so many years of Gronk steamrolling the Bills in a Patriots uniform, seeing him end his career in Buffalo may be too romantic of an idea for the Bills front office to ignore.

Is there anybody out there?

This one is a little hard to believe.

Via Pro Football Talk, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst says the Packers have not heard from any NFL teams about a potential Aaron Rodgers trade.

Are we to believe all 31 other teams are just patiently twiddling their thumbs, waiting to find out if Rodgers is going to retire before trying to find out what cost there may be to acquire him?

I don’t. Especially after Washington Commanders general manager Martin Mayhew stated on the record that he has already called every team with a quarterback who may be available.

That’s got to include the Packers, right? Unless he only called about … Jordan Love??? I doubt it.

I’m not sure what angle Gutekunst is playing here. Maybe he is trying to get Rodgers to believe the market is softer for him than he might believe. But I can’t imagine Rodgers falling for that. I bet it’s a tactic that backfires given Rodgers’ prickly personality.

I suppose the Packers want to push Rodgers out the door. Which … eh, who knows.