As you probably have heard, Rob Gronkowski has been suspended for one game by the NFL for his late hit on Tre'Davious White during the Bills game.
Chris Price has looked at its roster implications. I will dive into its salary cap implications.
If Gronkowski loses his appeal and is unable to play Monday night against the Dolphins, it will cost him. He will lose one week's salary or $250,000 (1/17th of his $4.25 million salary). He will also lose the ability to earn his $31,250, 46-man active roster bonus. If the Patriots choose to do so, they could go after a small portion of his $10 million option bonus. Since the option bonus covered five years or 80 games, the Patriots could ask Gronk to pay back 1/80th of $10,000,000 or $125,000. I doubt that they would, but it is possible.
The biggest impact would be on Gronk's ability to earn all of his incentives. In May, the Patriots and Gronkowski agreed to add incentives for the '17 season to his deal.
The lowest tier was worth $1 million. He achieved that incentive by going over 800 receiving yards for the season on Sunday against the Bills (849).
The middle tier is $2 million more, or $3 million total, and could be earned in one of the following ways:
- 80 percent playing time
- 12 touchdowns
- 70 receptions
- 1,000 receiving yards
- 90 percent playing time
- 14 touchdowns
- 80 receptions
- 1,200 receiving yards
- Named first-team All-Pro
