Agent's Take: Here's what the Patriots could do about Gronk wanting a new deal

Rob Gronkowski has four years left on his contract but feels underpaid

Reports surfaced over the weekend that Rob Gronkowski's agents, Drew and Jason Rosenhaus, were at the New England Patriots' training camp discussing a new contract for the underpaid tight end. Considering Gronkowski has four years remaining on his contract, which runs through the 2019 season, this is somewhat surprising.

Gronkowski signed a six-year, $54 million contract extension in 2012, which made him the NFL's highest-paid tight end by average yearly salary. He was scheduled to make $1.175 million over the final two years of his rookie deal before signing the extension.

The extension, which contained $18.17 million of guarantees, came for Gronkowski, a 2010 second-round pick, after just two NFL seasons. That couldn't have happened if he had been drafted one year later, as getting an extension that quickly isn't permissible for drafted players operating under the rookie wage scale implemented by the 2011 collective bargaining agreement.

Gronkowski's new deal was originally structured so the Patriots had until the last day of the 2015 league year (this past March 9) to pick up his 2016-19 contract years. A $10 million payment (i.e., option bonus) due on March 31 of this year was required for these four years containing $27 million in salary. The contract also contained a clause prohibiting the Patriots from designating Gronkowski as a franchise or transition player if the extra years weren't picked up, which would have allowed him to hit the open market.

A contract modification favoring Gronkowski was made when training camp opened last year -- $4 million of the $10 million option bonus was given to him as a signing bonus payable almost immediately. The other $6 million remained as an option bonus with the same exercise and payment date as in the 2012 extension.

Gronkowski first publicly expressed his displeasure with his situation on Twitter in March by characterizing New England picking up his option as a pay cut for the final four years of his deal. His view of his contract is quite common among players where the focus is on the remaining compensation instead of looking at the deal in its entirety.

Will Gronk get a new deal? USATSI

Gronk's deal relative to the tight end market

Gronkowski has dropped to the fifth-highest-paid tight end by average yearly salary since signing in 2012. Most recently, Jordan Reed and Travis Kelce received five-year extensions during the offseason from the Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs, averaging $9.35 million and $9.195 million per year. Reed's deal contains $22 million in guarantees while Kelce has $20.017 million. Kelce can increase the total value of his deal by $4 million to $49.975 million through base salary escalators.

Julius Thomas is the only tight end making more than Gronkowski over the next four years until his contract expires despite the new deals. The following chart outlines the most cumulative cash scheduled to be received by tight ends from 2016 to 2019 (signing bonus deferrals taken into account with cash flow):

Name	Club	2016	2017	2018	2019
Julius Thomas	Jaguars	$9,100,000	$16,200,000	$24,800,000	$33,900,000
Rob Gronkowski	Patriots	$9,000,000	$14,000,000	$23,000,000	$33,000,000
Jordan Reed	Redskins	$10,500,000	$14,500,000	$23,000,000	$30,921,000
Travis Kelce	Chiefs	$8,822,000	$14,096,000	$22,146,000	$30,146,000
Dwayne Allen	Colts	$10,000,000	$17,000,000	$22,000,000	$29,400,000

It's incorrect to state that Gronkowski is making $27 million over the next four years, because of his receipt of the $6 million option bonus payment four months ago. Gronkowski would be making $37 million instead if the Patriots hadn't adjusted his contract last year so he would receive $4 million early.

Thomas' $33.9 million includes the $3 million of signing bonus deferred until this past March 31 from the five-year, $46 million deal he signed with the Jaguars last year. Jimmy Graham, who is the NFL's highest-paid tight end at $10 million per year, is not listed because he only has two years left on his contract. The $19 million Graham is scheduled to make is tops among tight ends during this span.

It's hard to envision any dramatic changes to the tight end market over the next couple of years due to the flurry of deals signed by the league's best young tight ends this offseason. Tyler Eifert, a first-round pick in 2013, is the best candidate to advance the ball. He will likely sign an extension with the Cincinnati Bengals before reaching free agency in 2018.

Gronk transcending his position

Gronkowski is clearly the best tight end in football when healthy. Over the past two years, his 154 receptions rank third among tight ends behind only Greg Olsen (161) and Delanie Walker (157) and 18th overall in the NFL.

Gronkowski leads tight ends with 2,300 receiving yards and 23 touchdown receptions since the start of the 2014 season. The 23 touchdowns are tied for second in the NFL with Antonio Brown. His 2,300 yards are 10th in the NFL during this span.

Unlike most great pass catching tight ends, Gronkowski is also an excellent blocker. He's arguably New England's most valuable offensive player. There was a big difference in Tom Brady's effectiveness with and without a healthy Gronkowski. Since Gronkowski is the ultimate mismatch in the passing game, he can make a legitimate case that he has transcended his position and should be compared to the game's best pass catchers instead of just tight ends.

Looking at the league's highest-paid receivers, Gronkowski's compensation pales in comparison. Dez Bryant, A.J. Green, Julio Jones and Demaryius Thomas signed new contracts in 2015 averaging between $14 million and $15 million per year. With the exception of Green, the players received between $43.5 million and $47 million of guarantees in their contracts.

The second tier of wide receiver deals are in the range of $11 million to $12 million per year with between $20 million and $25 million of guarantees. For example, Doug Baldwin, who recently signed a four-year, $46 million extension, is scheduled to make $39 million through 2019.

What could be done for Gronk

Since it is extremely rare for teams to renegotiate a player's contract with four years left, the Patriots would be justified leaving Gronkowski's contract as is until he is closer to free agency. Brady has never received a new deal until two years were remaining on his contract.

Gronkowski doesn't have any leverage in this situation. Holding out isn't a viable option for him if the Patriots aren't willing to do anything to his liking. Once a player leaves after reporting, his team can send him a letter warning him that he can be put on the reserve/left squad list after five days if he hasn't returned, which would prevent him from playing for the rest of the season.

Gronk doesn't have much leverage at this point. USATSI

Typically, a contract isn't ripped up where the player is treated like he is approaching free agency when it is renegotiated with so much time remaining. Gronkowski insisting on such treatment will make it tough to reach an agreement. More of a Band-Aid approach is usually taken.

This was the case with Andre Johnson in 2010 when the Houston Texans renegotiated his six-year, $44.05 million extension from 2007 in which he sold himself way short by representing himself. There were five years remaining when Johnson's deal was reworked. $4 million of new money was added in the first two years of the existing deal. $10.8 million of salary escalators were inserted in the last four remaining years, which could be earned by Johnson performing like a top wide receiver. Two new contract years were added as well.

A similar approach is probably the best Gronkowski should reasonably expect this year, where the Patriots could do some or all of the following:

1. Add $3 million to $5 million as a "first day of the 2017 league year" roster bonus. Gronkowski's lowest salary of the four year remaining years is next year at $5 million. The Patriots are also in great shape to absorb a salary increase next season. There are $103.7 million of salary cap commitments in 2017 with 47 players under contract. The Patriots currently have $9.459 million of 2016 cap room, which can be carried over to 2017.
2. Insert salary escalators into each of the final three remaining contract years (2017-19) based on ranking in the top three among tight ends in either receptions, receiving yards or touchdown receptions, where Gronkowski could earn an extra $1 million to $1.5 million annually for hitting this threshold.
3. Fully guarantee Gronkowski's $2.25 million and $4.25 million 2016 and 2017 base salaries. The new 2017 roster bonus could be guaranteed for skill and injury upon signing where the salary cap guarantee kicked in a few days later to keep it from being treated like signing bonus under the salary cap and prorated over five years. An injury guarantee could be included for his $8 million 2018 base salary, which becomes fully guaranteed on the first day of the 2018 league year (early-to-mid-March 2018).
4. Add two years to the contract so it runs through the 2021 season. The new money added over the six years, which excludes any money earned from the salary escalators, would be $21 million to $24 million. Gronkowski would be receiving a two-year extension averaging between $10.5 million and $12 million per year with the potential to make more thanks to the escalators.

Potential ramifications of a Gronk renegotiation

The Patriots would be setting a precedent that would be used against them in the future. Anytime a player with multiple years left on his contract felt he outperformed his deal, he or his agent would point to how Gronkowski was handled. Given that Gronkowski is already in the discussion of possibly being the greatest tight end of all-time, the Patriots could easily draw a distinction with his circumstances.

The potential impact of taking care of Gronkowski before valuable players in contract years should be of more immediate concern to the Patriots. The wrong signal could be sent to linebackers Jamie Collins and Dont'a Hightower and other potential 2017 free agents about their importance to the organization. It might be a particularly sensitive issue with 2014 undrafted free-agent cornerback Malcolm Butler, who is eligible to sign a new deal, since he is unhappy about his situation. The three-year contract he signed in 2014 was for $1.53 million, his minimum salaries.

Other veteran players who feel they have outperformed their contracts would probably like to see Gronkowski get rewarded. A new deal would give wide receiver Antonio Brown, who also has the same representation as Gronkowski, and defensive end Michael Bennett more ammunition for their cases to get new contracts from their teams sooner rather than later.