Hours after the Patriots picked up his $10 million option, and shortly before the Colts gave tight end Dwayne Allen a four-year, $29.4 million deal, Rob Gronkowski tweeted about his new situation basically amounting to a pay cut.
If ya think about it that Option pick up basically equals pay cut the next 4 seasons... I don't work hard for those reasons. Haha
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) March 8, 2016
Gronkowski sounds like he's joking, but emojii-filled tweets aside, is he really taking a pay cut?
Yes, he'll make less next season.
According to Spotrac.com, Gronkowski's base salary in 2016 will be $2.25 million, down from $4.75 million in 2015. But he's scheduled to make $4.25 million in 2017, $8 million in 2018 and $9 million in 2019.
All together, that's $23.5 million over the next four years, plus the $10 million option bonus. If nothing else, Gronkowski can take solace in knowing he's still earning more than Allen. And in terms of average salary, Gronkowski's $9 million ranks fourth among all tight ends behind Jimmy Graham ($10 million), Travis Kelce ($9.4 million) and Julius Thomas ($9.2 million).
