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Rob Gronkowski

Latest On Rob Gronkowski’s 2018 Status

March 31st, 2018 at 9:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

The uncertainty surrounding Rob Gronkowski‘s career may be on the verge of being tabled. The All-Pro tight end is more likely to play in 2018 than retire shy of his 29th birthday, Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com reports.

Although Gronkowski has not yet made an official decision, Darlington reports he is “pretty certain” to return as long as Tom Brady is still with the Patriots. Despite nearing his 41st birthday, Brady is not believed to be considering retirement. That would point the two Patriots icons toward a ninth season together.

While Gronkowski and Brady appear to still be in lockstep, the four-time first-team All-Pro and Bill Belichick may not be. Gronk is frustrated with Belichick and some others in the Patriots organization, Darlington reports. The punishment the injury-prone player absorbed last season isn’t the only thing pushing him toward a possible early NFL exit, with Darlington also reporting part of the Patriots’ ways are wearing on their top weapon. With nothing occurring since the conclusion of last season indicating the “high-strung” culture will change, Gronkowski is factoring the mental component into his decision, per Darlington.

Belichick has also expressed frustration about Gronkowski, per Darlington, questioning whether the tight end is “all in” at this juncture. Although, sources close to both parties informed the ESPN reporter these differences aren’t believed to be irreconcilable.

NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported in February that Gronk was likely to return for his age-29 season, but talk about the superstar tight end’s future has swirled since he expressed uncertainty his career would continue after Super Bowl LII. Darlington reports Gronk was having thoughts of walking away late during the 2017 regular season.

The Patriot with the second-most first-team All-Pro honors, behind Hall of Famer John Hannah, Gronkowski remains attached to a contract he signed in 2012. A return to the gridiron next season stands to come on a $10.9MM cap number. Gronk maxed out his incentive-laden 2017 salary by earning that fourth All-Pro nod. Two years remain on the deal.

Gronkowski caught 69 passes for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns, surmounting yet another significant injury to reclaim his status as the league’s best tight end. He caught two TDs in New England’s Super Bowl loss but was knocked out of the AFC title game because of a concussion.

Hollywood and WWE interest has come his way, and it’s clear the gregarious performer will have options once his career concludes. While it’s uncertain if he’ll venture elsewhere prior to this season, it’s increasingly looking like there will be a ninth NFL campaign for Gronk.

Latest On Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski

March 12th, 2018 at 2:55pm CST by Zachary Links

We’re still waiting on Rob Gronkowski to decide on his football future, but the latest word is promising for the Patriots. Gronkowski’s has been working out at the TB12 Sports Therapy Center at Gillette in recent days, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 

Late last month, Rapoport reported that Gronkowski was expected to continue playing. So far, agent Drew Rosenhaus has stayed mum on the subject, though Gronk is known to be wrestling with the decision in the wake of a concussion he suffered during the postseason.

Gronkowski, a mainstream star, may have other lucrative opportunities waiting for him outside of football. There has been talk of an acting career and the WWE may be interested in bringing him into the world of sports entertainment. Right now, one has to imagine that Gronkowski will put the silver screen and the squared circle on the back burner.

Last season, No. 87 caught 69 passes for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns for the Pats.

Rob Gronkowski Expected To Return

February 28th, 2018 at 1:35pm CST by Zachary Links

After pondering retirement, Rob Gronkowski is expected to continue playing in the NFL, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) reports. Agent Drew Rosenhaus declined to comment on the tight end’s status, but the belief is that he’ll be back with the Patriots in 2018. Rob Gronkowski (vertical)

Rumors have been swirling about Gronkowski’s future for quite some time, particularly after he suffered a concussion during the AFC Championship game. The tight end has pondered a future in movies and even the WWE, but he’ll put acting and wrasslin’ on hold for the time being.

The lovable Gronk has caught 76 touchdowns through eight seasons in the NFL. This past season, he turned in another productive campaign with 69 grabs for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns.

After the Super Bowl, Patriots coach Bill Belichick did his best to quell talk of Gronkowski moving on to something else.

“At the end of every season, every person goes through somewhat of a process at the end of the season and then the following season,” Belichick said. “I think everyone that is involved in a NFL season, you get pretty drained especially after a season like this. [You] go through the end of the year process. The following year is the following year. It’s the same for everybody. I certainly can’t speak for anybody else…You’d have to ask any individual for every situation, but I would say five minutes after the game, or the day after the game is not really the time to make those decisions.”

Latest On Rob Gronkowski’s Future

February 17th, 2018 at 11:11am CST by Ben Levine

In the aftermath of the Patriots’ loss in the Super Bowl, tight end Rob Gronkowski admitted that he could consider retiring. Well, one organization is trying to sway Gronk into ditching the NFL, as renowned wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer says the WWE is attempting to sign the Pro Bowler (via SI.com’s Dan Gartland).

Rob Gronkowski (vertical)According to Meltzer, the WWE “is willing to offer a similar style deal to Gronkowski that they offered to Ronda Rousey.” Wrestler Mojo Rawley, who is good friends with the tight end, echoed the sentiment, telling TMZ that Gronk joining the WWE is “not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

If Gronkowski retired from the NFL, his decision would surely be attributed to injury. The tight end has suffered his fair share of ailments throughout his career, including a concussion during the AFC Championship. Of course, he’s still only 28-years-old, so there’s plenty more earning potential in the NFL. Gronk is set to make $10MM next season, although money may not be a huge motivator. A previous report indicated that the tight end hasn’t spent a dime of his NFL money, as he’s relied solely on money from his endorsements.

Losing Gronkowski would be a huge hit to the Patriots offense. The former second-rounder has been one of Tom Brady‘s favorite targets since entering the league, hauling in 76 touchdowns through eight seasons. The tight end had another productive season in 2017, catching 69 passes for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns.

Patriots Notes: McDaniels, Rookie QBs, Gronk

February 11th, 2018 at 9:20am CST by Rory Parks

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe offers an interesting theory as to why the Patriots made an eleventh hour push to retain offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, a theory that has been proffered by two separate league sources. Volin says team brass was taken aback by Bill Belichick‘s controversial decision to bench Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII, and he says the Krafts were also surprised that Belichick was able to wrangle only a second-round pick in exchange for Jimmy Garoppolo. As such, Volin suggests that keeping McDaniels really may have been less about having a succession plan and more about giving the Krafts more control over the situation. He writes, “[i]f the tension between the Krafts, Belichick, and [Tom] Brady persists, or if Belichick decides to leave the organization in the next year or two, the Krafts now have a backup plan in McDaniels.” 

Now for more out of Foxborough:

  • Former Patriot Willie McGinest said on the NFL Network that he spoke with McDaniels, and that McDaniels said there was “absolutely not” any type of guarantee that he would succeed Belichick as New England’s head coach (link via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). McDaniels did indicate, however, that he would have job security with the Patriots.
  • Citing a “high-level executive” with a rival team, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report says that there is another angle to the Pats’ efforts to keep McDaniels. That executive believes that New England is going to find its quarterback of the future this offseason, and the team wants McDaniels to be around to identify and develop that player.
  • Speaking of QBs the Patriots might target in this year’s draft, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com spoke to Senior Bowl executive director and former Browns GM Phil Savage to see who might be Garoppolo 2.0 (assuming, of course, that the upper-echelon passers will be long gone by the time New England is on the clock with the No. 31 overall pick). Savage named Washington State’s Luke Falk, Richmond’s Kyle Lauletta, Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, and Western Kentucky’s Mike White as potential fits, with Lauletta’s skill-set most closely mirroring Garoppolo’s.
  • In the same piece, Reiss reports that the sources close to the situation that he trusts the most say that the decision to bench Butler in Super Bowl LII was purely a football decision, as the team has insisted from the jump. Nonetheless, Reiss does not seem entirely convinced, as he indicates he will do more digging into the matter.
  • Reiss believes, as most do, that Rob Gronkowski will return in 2018 and will not hang up the cleats just yet. Volin says it would be hard to blame Gronk if he did walk away, but he believes the tight end’s comments about retirement are probably just laying the foundation for a new contract, or at least for an incentive package similar to the one the Patriots gave him in 2017.

East Rumors: Patriots, Cousins, Giants, Foles

February 5th, 2018 at 3:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Will Rob Gronkowski retire this offseason? The tight end hinted at the possibility following the Patriots‘ Super Bowl loss, but head coach Bill Belichick isn’t panicking.

“At the end of every season, every person goes through somewhat of a process at the end of the season and then the following season,” Belichick said (via Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com). “I think everyone that is involved in a NFL season, you get pretty drained especially after a season like this. [You] go through the end of the year process. The following year is the following year. It’s the same for everybody. I certainly can’t speak for anybody else.

You’d have to ask any individual for every situation, but I would say five minutes after the game, or the day after the game is not really the time to make those decisions.”

Gronkowski maxed out his incentive-laden 2017 contract by returning to first-team All-Pro status, the fourth time he’s done so in his eight-year career. Only Tony Gonzalez (six) earned more first-team All-Pro distinctions. Gronk will turn 29 in May and still has two seasons remaining on his extension signed back in 2012. He’s set to earn $8MM in base salary in 2018 and take up $10.91MM of the Patriots’ cap.

Here’s more from the AFC champions and the latest from the NFC East.

  • Take this with a grain of salt, but Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels told reporters that he will not address whether he’s going to join the Colts as their new head coach or stay in New England as their offensive coordinator (Twitter link via Doug Kyed of NESN). A report emerged during Super Bowl LII that McDaniels was considering backing out of his unofficial Indianapolis agreement.
  • Redskins president Bruce Allen has been speaking to rival executives about possibly tagging Kirk Cousins, but they don’t see the logic in doing that, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets. The feeling around the league, La Canfora says, is that consideration of the tag feels overly personal. As PFR’s Rory Parks explained over the weekend, tagging and trading Cousins could wind up backfiring hard on the team.
  • The Giants are planning to hire two more assistants for Pat Shurmur‘s first staff. Deshea Townsend and Ben Wilkerson will be joining the staff as assistant defensive backs coach and assistant offensive line coach, respectively, Alex Marvez of the Sporting News reports. A 13-year NFL veteran corner, Townsend served as the Titans’ DBs coach during Mike Mularkey‘s two-year run. Wilkerson spent the past three seasons on John Fox‘s Bears staff.
  • Carson Wentz‘s severe knee injuries would make the Eagles “fools” to trade Nick Foles now, especially considering what Jimmy Garoppolo fetched in a trade in October, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes. Signed to just a two-year, $11MM deal, Foles could serve as an elite insurance policy while Wentz recovers. While the Super Bowl champions’ franchise quarterback is hopeful to return in time for the start of the 2018 season, the December setback could leave him on the shelf going into training camp.
  • Conversely, the Eagles’ lack of a second- or third-round pick in next year’s draft could make acquiring a second-rounder more important than keeping Foles while Wentz recovers, Les Bowen of Philly.com writes. Foles’ previous shortcomings as a starter should give teams pause, but his 72 percent playoff completion rate this year was third in NFL history — behind only Joe Montana (1989) and Troy Aikman (1993) — for a player with at least 75 throws. And his stock will probably never be higher. The 29-year-old passer would be an interesting name on an already complex QB market.

Zach Links contributed to this report.

Rob Gronkowski Mulling Retirement?

February 5th, 2018 at 10:32am CST by Zachary Links

In the aftermath of the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles in the Super Bowl, tight end Rob Gronkowski was asked about the possibility that he could retire this offseason. Gronkowski indicated that retirement is at least a possibility, though he has not made a determination one way or another. Rob Gronkowski (featured)

“I don’t know how you heard that, but I mean I’m definitely gonna look at my future for sure,” Gronkowski said (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, on Twitter). “[I’ll] sit down the next couple weeks and see where I’m at.”

Gronkowski won’t turn 29 until May and remains one of the league’s very best tight ends. However, he may be thinking about moving on from the game after a big hit from Jaguars safety Barry Church left him with a concussion. Gronk, who has plenty of money in the bank thanks to endorsement deals, is due to make $8.25MM in 2018 and that might not be enough to make him return for another season if he is having doubts.

This past season, Gronkowski hauled in a team-high 69 catches for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns. He also turned in another stellar performance on the game’s biggest stage with nine catches for 116 yards and two scores against the Eagles. If the Patriots want more of that, they may have to try and coax Gronkowski to come back out for another season – and that may mean offering him a sizable raise.

Rob Gronkowski To Play In Super Bowl

February 1st, 2018 at 3:12pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots will have the services of Rob Gronkowski on Sunday. The tight end has cleared concussion protocol, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Rob Gronkowski (vertical)

Members of the press got their first clue that Gronk had cleared concussion protocol when he was announced to be available to media Thursday afternoon. This was the expected outcome as Gronkowski answered in the affirmative on Tuesday when asked if he would play.

Gronkowski was forced out of the Pats’ AFC Championship Game victory against the Jaguars two weeks ago, leading to some question about whether he would be ready to go. With the extra week off between the semifinal and the Super Bowl, the Pats star had enough time to clear the cobwebs and gain medical clearance.

Gronkowski hauled in a team-high 69 catches for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns this year. Now that the Jaguars know he’ll be on the field, they’ll have to game plan for one of the game’s scariest offensive weapons. The Eagles’ linebackers will do their part to cover Gronkowski near the line, but Philly may be forced to use members of the secondary against him as well.

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Gronk, Brady, Jets

January 31st, 2018 at 8:32pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Patriots are optimistic tight end Rob Gronkowski will be fully recovered from his concussion in time to play in the Super Bowl, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link). Indeed, New England is game-planning as though Gronkowski will be available against the Eagles. Gronk did not wear a red non-contact jersey during practice today (as he previously had), tweets Doug Kyed of NESN, another positive development as the Patriots prepare for Sunday. Meanwhile, quarterback Tom Brady wore only black tape on his injured right hand during Wednesday’s practice, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Brady’s hand injury didn’t seem to affect him in the AFC Championship Game, and likely won’t have an effect on his Super Bowl performance.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

  • Pending free agent corner Malcolm Butler said he “without a doubt” wants to return to the Patriots in 2018, reports James Palmer of NFL.com (Twitter link). Butler, 27, had an up-and-down season on the field, and was repeatedly involved in trade rumors during the preseason and during the 2017 campaign. New England engaged in Butler trade conversations with the Saints throughout the summer, and were reportedly open to dealing the former Super Bowl hero near the trade deadline. While the two sides could theoretically reach an agreement before the start of free agency, negotiations were never expected to take place until the season concluded.
  • The Patriots signed linebacker James Harrison in late December after he was released by the Steelers, and the veteran edge rusher today offered more details about his departure from Pittsburgh, as Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Per Harrsison, the Steelers promised him 20-25% playtime, but he ended up seeing action on only 40 defensive plays, which amounts to roughly four percent. Fed up with his lack of a defined role, Harrison says he asked Pittsburgh three times to be traded before he was ultimately cut. The 39-year-old former Defensive Player of the Year has racked up two sacks in four games with New England.
  • The Jets worked out Canadian Football League star wideout Luke Tasker on Wednesday, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com. Tasker, the son of former NFL Pro Bowler and current broadcaster Steve Tasker, set career-highs with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017 by posting 104 receptions for 1,167 yards and seven touchdowns. He worked out for the Packers in 2014, but reportedly passed on a Green Bay offer to sign an extension with Hamilton.

AFC East Notes: Gronk, Jets, Lawrence

January 30th, 2018 at 11:24am CST by Zachary Links

Good news for the Patriots as Rob Gronkowski was able to go full tilt in practice on Sunday and Monday (Twitter link via Jeff Howe of The Boston Herald). days in practice. Gronk also gave Pats fans extra reason to believe yesterday when he posted a picture on Instagram with the caption, “Locked in, ready to roll. Minnesota we here [sic].”

Gronkowski, a focal point of the Patriots’ offense, had a team-high 69 receptions for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns this year. Barring a setback, it sounds like the tight end is on pace to clear concussion protocol in time for the Super Bowl.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

Sam Robinson contributed to this report.

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