On Monday, James Palmer of NFL Media reported a contract restructure with Rob Gronkowski is currently being worked on. If the new deal has incentives like last year, according to NFL rules, it can't be done until May 24 -- one year from when he restructured his last deal. (Coincidentally, the Patriots' third OTA is also set for the same day.) What could a reworked deal for Gronkowski look like? Let's look at some possibilities.
First, some background:
On June 12, 2012 the Patriots and Gronkowski agreed on an six-year $54 million extension that made him the highest paid tight end at the time with a total of $9 million APY (average per year). Including the first two years at his rookie salary level, the total deal covered eight years and paid him a total of $55.23 million ($6.9 million average).
That deal contained a $10 million option for the final four years. The deadline for the option was the end of the 2015 League Year (March, 2016). With the team option ,the eight-year deal broke down into two four-year contracts: $18.23 million ($4.557 million average) through 2015 and $37 million ($9.25 million average) from 2016-19. Gronkowski's salary cap numbers under this deal were:
2012: $2.66 million
2013: $2.75 million
2014: $5.4 million
2015: $8.65 million
2016: $6.65 million
2017: $7 million
2018: $11 million
2019: $12 million
In August 2015, the Patriots reworked the deal by paying Gronkowski a $4 million bonus at the outset of training camp, leaving just $6 million to be paid out by the end of the league year.
On May 24, 2017 the Patriots tweaked the deal, giving Gronk the chance to earn $5.5 million in incentives.
Gronkowski's $1,000,000 incentive could have been earned in one of the following four ways:
1.) 70 percent playing-time
2.) 10 touchdowns
3.) 60 catches
4.) 800 receiving yards
Gronkowski's $3,000,000 incentive could have been earned in one of the following four ways:
1.) 80 percent playing-time
2.) 12 touchdowns
3.) 70 catches
4.) 1,000 receiving yards
Gronkowski's $5,500,000 incentive that could have been earned in one of the following five ways:
1.) 90 percent playing-time
2.) 14 touchdowns
3.) 80 catches
4.) 1,200 receiving yards
5.) first-team All-Pro berth
By being named an AP all-pro, he earned all of his incentives. In 2017, he earned a total of $10,194,380 in cash (the highest amount for a tight end). The cash was made of:
$4,000,000: salary
$5,500,000: incentives
$437,500: 46-man active roster bonus
$256,880: offseason workout bonus
Gronkowski's 2018 current cap number is $10,906,250, and it consists of:
$8,000,000 salary
$800,000 signing bonus proration
$1,200,000 option bonus proration
$250,000 offseason workout bonus
$656,250 46-man active roster bonus ($46,875 per game)
As of this writing, Jimmy Graham is the only tight end scheduled to earn more cash in 2018 ($13 million) than Gronkowski ($9 million). Graham is also the only tight end scheduled to earn more cash ($22 million) the next two years (2018/2019) than Gronkowski ($19 million). Sixteen wide receivers are currently scheduled to earn more cash in 2018 than the Patriots tight end. Thirteen wideouts s are currently scheduled to earn more cash in 2019 than Gronkowski. Eleven wideouts (Mike Evans, Jarvis Landry, A.J. Green, Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Allen Robinson, Antonio Brown, Desean Jackson, Demaryius Thomas and Julio Jones) are currently scheduled to receive more cash in 2018/19 than the game's best tight end.
Let's now take a look at possible restructures.
1. A restructure that would add NLTBE (Not Likely to be Earned) incentives to Gronk's deal?
There are several options:
- 70 or more receptions
- 1,085 or more receiving yards
- 15.8 yards or more per reception
- Nine or more touchdowns
- Super Bowl victory
- Fourteen or more wins
- MVP
- Offensive Player of the Year
