Just in time for kickoff, the New England Patriots have reworked the contracts for its two main tight ends: Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen. Gronkowski’s contract has been sweetened with a laundry list of incentives. Allen’s contract was trimmed to help save cap space after performance issues. Realistically, this is the best possible outcome for the team for 2018.
Rob Gronkowski, Dwayne Allen receive contract updates
Incentives for Gronkowksi
After a lengthy offseason game of “will they-won’t they” between Gronkowski and the Patriots, any issues appear to have been put away with the reworking of his contract. Four “achievable” in-game incentives were tacked onto his contract, each worth $1.1 million. However, the deal itself maxes out at three – meaning once Gronkowski meets three of those four goals, he’ll earn a maximum of $3.3-million on top of his $8-million base salary for 2018.
What are those incentives? Fresh off the heels of Jacksonville Jaguars‘ cornerback Jalen Ramsey saying Gronkowski “isn’t as good as people think he is”, the new checkmarks for the tight end who’s “finished first in standard scoring points per game every other year” after his sophomore season (when he finished in second) seem pretty reasonable.
Spoiler alert: Gronk is good, hence why @NFLClark thinks he's worth a first round pick: https://t.co/5e9TNsIDhd pic.twitter.com/Rfyg2BsCtP
— Fake Teams (@faketeams) August 30, 2018
Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Gronkowski can earn an additional $1.1-million by achieving the following:
- 70+ catches
- 1,085 receiving yards
- 80% playing time
- Nine or more touchdowns
Let’s break this down: Last year, Gronkowski reeled in 69 (nice) catches for eight touchdowns in 1,084 yards. It’s pretty clear that these incentives were based on last year’s numbers. Given Gronkowski’s health status and ready-to-go attitude this year, three of those goals are 100% attainable.
Cuts for Allen
This day and age, pay cuts are better than team cuts. It seems that one of the best blocking tight ends in the league has found a way to stay with the Patriots this year.
Source: the Patriots and TE Dwayne Allen have agreed to reworked contract, reducing his compensation for 2018. Allen was previously due $4.5M with a $5M cap number, which will now be lowered.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 30, 2018
According to Field Yates, Allen and the Patriots agreed to a pay cut for the 2018 season. Allen will reportedly receive less than his initial $4.5-million salary. Allen’s salary also came with a $5-million cap hit, so this arrangement will also end up saving the team some money as well. Exact details on Allen’s agreement have not been announced.
We’d be remiss to suggest that Allen’s pay cut wasn’t influenced by Jacob Hollister‘s development over the last year. Between Allen’s lackluster performance last year and Hollister’s growth over the offseason and earning Tom Brady‘s trust, I think it’s likely that the Patriots sat Allen down for a matter-of-fact conversation about his contract situation.
Ultimately, it is highly likely that this year’s group of tight ends is set well before Saturday’s roster culling.
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