Rob Gronkowski attended mandatory minicamp with the New England Patriots last week, which is a good indication that he is not planning to hold out for a new contract. The reason for that could be that the team is close to giving him one, anyway.
A source with knowledge of Gronk’s contract situation told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that a new deal is “likely” but “nothing is imminent.” The hold-up in talks could be that the Patriots are willing to give Gronk an incentive-laden deal like the one they gave him for 2017, but the star tight end may want an increase in guaranteed money.
Florio notes that the Patriots trading Gronkowski cannot be ruled out entirely, but all of the crazy rumors that swirled on Friday were not rooted in reality.
Gronkowski missed only two games last season (one due to a suspension) and had a very productive year, catching 69 passes for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns. The Patriots restructured his contract for 2017 so that he had more than $5 million in incentives built. He ended up earning all of them and making nearly $11 million, which made him the highest-paid tight end in football. However, he probably feels that he should not have to earn the incentives for a second consecutive season.
