Latest Regarding Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski

Adam Kurkjian has heard from multiple sources that Patriots HC Bill Belichick wanted to trade TE Rob Gronkowski and they had offers on the table from both the Titans and 49ers.

Kurkjian says that Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft had a closed-door meeting to discuss to discuss the situation. However, Tom Brady reportedly threatened to retire if dealt Gronkowski and Kraft ultimately nixed the deal.

Patriots vice president of media relations Stacey James issued the following statement to Kurkjian denying the rumors: “I would say with the utmost confidence that none of that is true. None of it.”

• Jordan Schultz also reports that the rumor of the Patriots possibly trading Gronkowski to the 49ers is “completely false.”
• Jeff Howe reports that Gronkowski was never getting traded today and there were no deals in place or nixed. Howe adds that the reported meeting between Kraft and Belichick never took place.

Multiple reporters have shot down the Gronkowski trade rumors that surfaced earlier in the day, so it’s hard to say how much stock, if any, can be placed in the buzz that New England was willing to move him.

There has been speculation circulating that some big Patriots’ news could be coming as soon as today, which has led to a number of theories going around on Twitter. However, it appears as though Gronkowski’s status with the Patriots is not in question.

Recent reports have said that the Patriots and Gronkowski were closing in a restructured contract and it’s considered likely that Gronkowski will play the 2018 season under the new terms.

It’s worth mentioning that the Patriots added some incentives to Gronkowski’s contract last year that allowed him to make $10.1875 million for the 2017 season. As of now, Gronkowski stands to earn $8.91 million for the 2018 season.

Gronkowski, 28, is a former second-round pick of the Patriots back in 2010. He is in the sixth year of his eight-year, $55.23 million contract that included $13.17 million guaranteed.

Gronkowski has outplayed this contract by a mile and was one of the most underpaid players in the NFL. He was set to make base salaries of $4.25 million (2017), $8 million (2018) and $9 million (2019) over the remainder of the contract when he agreed to a restructured contract last summer.

In 2017, Gronkowski appeared in 14 games and caught 69 passes for 1,084 yards receiving and eight touchdowns for the Patriots.

We’ll have more regarding Gronkowski as the news is available.