NFL Rumors: Patriots working on contract extension with Rob Gronkowski

Rob Gronkowski is clearly the NFL’s best tight end, and his agents may be working on making his salary reflect that status.

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Early training camp news around the New England Patriots has centered on quarterback Tom Brady and his four-game fill-in Jimmy Garoppolo, as the team faces the aftermath of the trumped-up Deflategate scandal.

But another star player for the Patriots has made a bit of news on Sunday, with Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reporting tight end Rob Gronkowski’s agents are at training camp to discuss a new contract with the team. Garafolo does note that a new deal is not imminent, but it’s probably only a matter of time before “Gronk” becomes the NFL’s highest-paid tight end.

Gronkowski is just two years into a six-year contract extension that was added to his rookie contract back in 2012. But an average annual value of $9 million leaves Gronkowski behind Jimmy Graham’s pace-setting $10 million per year among tight ends, and it’s obvious that Gronkowski is a far better player than Graham.

That said, Gronkowski’s injury history may make the Patriots hesitant to ink a new deal. He has played 30 of 32 regular season games over the last two seasons, but Gronkowski still has not played all 16 games since his second season in 2011. He should have at least a few peak seasons left at age-27, but as Gronkowski approaches and crosses 30 years old any lingering durability concerns will only increase.

With rare exceptions, the Patriots are ruthless when a player has outlived his usefulness to them. Gronkowski is not headed for a bad ending in New England, but I would not expect news of a lucrative new contract for a while.

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