2018 Gronk Watch

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Super Nomario

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If it's mostly about money, I'd have to believe it's probably fixable.
It's fixable, but do they want to fix it? Gronk has cap hits of $11 and $12 MM the next couple years. He's clearly worth that if healthy, but that's a considerable if. They could convert some of the non-guaranteed money to bonus and put it in his pocket sooner, but if he wants a mega-deal, he might not get it from NE.

The most likely scenario is Gronk comes back and plays it out, maybe with the Pats throwing him a bone in terms of more guarantees or incentives but without ripping up the basic structure. But we're at the point (not in terms of ancillary nonsense, just in terms of Gronk's age / contract / injury nexus) where it wouldn't shock me to see him traded.
 

Detts

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Wish I had followed this closer. I would suggest that Gronk lacks the voice and Gravitas of being a large action hero. He is more of a teddy bear.
 

Al Zarilla

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Is that a Gronk play on his favorite two digit number, or is he talking about being traded to the 49ers? Both? After TB, he’s the most needed to be lifetime Patriot.
 

Leather

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So, if true, why the "I'm playing" to a fan but "Undecided" to the press?

He's leveraging for restructuring negotiations, right?
 

Reverend

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So, that's Gronk's out-of-season shape, huh?

Jesus frickin' CHrist.
 

Marciano490

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He’s a better dancer than I would’ve thought, but it also seems he cribbed all his moves from video vixens. Dude is twerking.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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On his morning show today, the typically relatively levelheaded Mike Florio speculated on trade destinations and potential returns for our beloved Gronk. His takeaway was a low first, or Gronk and #31 to get to the middle of the first round.

He further postulated any trade would come out of the blue, while the selecting team was on the clock.
 

dcmissle

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I don’t welcome it. Your second paragraph regarding his speculation of how we would learn about a trade if it did happen rings so true. It would be a Pats style lightning bolt.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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Van Everyman

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The reporting on the Patriots dysfunction continues to be really odd:

For Belichick, since the season's end, sources say he has expressed frustration with those close to him about Gronkowski, specifically questioning whether he remains "all-in," a critical aspect of Belichick's blueprint for success.

Examples of Belichick's frustrations are as nuanced as his discontent with Gronkowski's message in a recent Instagram post regarding former Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola, who left New England to sign a contract with the Miami Dolphins. Beneath a video of him hugging Amendola that Gronkowski posted on March 14, he wrote, in part, "Be FREE, Be HAPPY (sic)."
I wonder whether the problem is that no one is willing to even be quoted anonymously leaving these reporters to fill in the blanks. But as with the Wickersham piece, even some of the more believable pieces of these stories—such as Kraft wanting Belichick to cut bait on Jimmy or Gronk feeling hemmed in by the Pats culture—are written in this really stilted way, with dramatic examples—Kraft *ordered* Bill to trade Jimmy! Belichick is annoyed with Gronk’s SnapFace posts!—that strain credibility.
 

Leather

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The reporting on the Patriots dysfunction continues to be really odd:


I wonder whether the problem is that no one is willing to even be quoted anonymously leaving these reporters to fill in the blanks. But as with the Wickersham piece, even some of the more believable pieces of these stories—such as Kraft wanting Belichick to cut bait on Jimmy or Gronk feeling hemmed in by the Pats culture—are written in this really stilted way, with dramatic examples—Kraft *ordered* Bill to trade Jimmy! Belichick is annoyed with Gronk’s SnapFace posts!—that strain credibility.
Exactly. “Expressed frustration” is clearly deliberately ambiguous. That could mean everything from saying “whatever” to going on a rant. Of course, it’s probably the latter, if it’s even true at all.
 

Harry Hooper

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Observing from the cheap seats, I have to say this passage rings true to me:

For Belichick, since the season's end, sources say he has expressed frustration with those close to him about Gronkowski, specifically questioning whether he remains "all-in," a critical aspect of Belichick's blueprint for success.
We know BB never wants the player to have the leverage. I have a hard time imagining BB will risk having his roster plans blown up by a Gronk retirement in training camp. At this point I will be more surprised if he stays than if he is traded.
 

Mystic Merlin

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If BB calls up shopping Gronk, how wouldn't that be a massive red flag to the other team in terms of his willingness to keep playing football and thus that team's willingness to part with assets to acquire him?
 

Harry Hooper

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MM, everything is already in place for "Gronk still wants to play, just not in the Foxboro gulag." Also, NFL teams have extended themselves for far lesser talents than Gronk.
 

DJnVa

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We know BB never wants the player to have the leverage. I have a hard time imagining BB will risk having his roster plans blown up by a Gronk retirement in training camp. At this point I will be more surprised if he stays than if he is traded.
I don't see Gronk doing that. While he may chafe at BB's ways, he clearly has a connection with Brady and the team and retiring like that would hurt them--just don't see that happening.
 

pappymojo

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Not that I'm really buying into the idea of trading Gronk, but it's interesting to me that some people are projecting that OBJ is worth two 1st round picks and some are projecting that Gronk might be worth a second.

Are their trade values so much different?

Since 2014:

OJB (25 years old) 44 Games Started, 313 Receptions for 4,424 yards and 38 touchdowns. He is owed $8.5 million and is playing on the fifth and final year option of his rookie contract.

Gronk (28 years old) 45 Games Started, 248 Receptions for 3,924 yards and 34 touchdowns. He is owed $8 million this year with two years left on his contract.
 

lexrageorge

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Gronk is not being traded for a 2nd rounder, just like Butler wasn't traded for a 4th rounder last offseason. It's never been Bill's modus operandi to simply give assets away for nothing, no matter what people in the media claim happened with the Jimmy G trade. Hell, Deion Branch netted a first rounder while in the middle of a holdout; Seymour was traded for a first while on the downslope of his career in a position considered less valuable.

I don't think the trade speculation is at all real. But, even if it is, then the Pats would be perfectly happy to let Gronk hold out the season rather than gifting him to another team for a subpar return.
 

slamminsammya

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Not that I'm really buying into the idea of trading Gronk, but it's interesting to me that some people are projecting that OBJ is worth two 1st round picks and some are projecting that Gronk might be worth a second.

Are their trade values so much different?

Since 2014:

OJB (25 years old) 44 Games Started, 313 Receptions for 4,424 yards and 38 touchdowns. He is owed $8.5 million and is playing on the fifth and final year option of his rookie contract.

Gronk (28 years old) 45 Games Started, 248 Receptions for 3,924 yards and 34 touchdowns. He is owed $8 million this year with two years left on his contract.
Is anyone projecting that? Ive Just heard the Giants are asking for that but to me that price seems insane.
 

dcmissle

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Is anyone projecting that? Ive Just heard the Giants are asking for that but to me that price seems insane.
It is. OBJ is relentlessly ballwashed -- but nobody is projecting two first round picks for him. At least nobody with a platform who is sane.
 

E5 Yaz

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It is. OBJ is relentlessly ballwashed -- but nobody is projecting two first round picks for him. At least nobody with a platform who is sane.
Untile the last three words, I was going to drop Peter King's name in there.

He posits today OBJ to the Rams for two first rounders AND the No 2 to Buffalo for THREE first rounders
 

InstaFace

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Yeah, I always prefer my favorite team gets worse and their best players retire young.
I think there's enough room to appreciate the humans behind our team's success, and to wish them well and a fulfilling life free of brain damage, that it probably deserves less than a sarcastic and dismissive one-liner out of you.
 

dcmissle

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Untile the last three words, I was going to drop Peter King's name in there.

He posits today OBJ to the Rams for two first rounders AND the No 2 to Buffalo for THREE first rounders
King must have had lunch with Mara.

Two number 1s for a guy who quite likely in his last year with the Giants and has already expressed an interest in playing for the Rams. Yep, makes complete sense.
 

pappymojo

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My hope is that the Giants are actively shopping OBJ but that the Patriots are not shopping Gronk. As sellers, it would be in the Giants best interest to leak the idea that he is worth two first rounders. The Patriots as an organization generally doesn't give a shit about playing games through the media, and this would be even more true if they had no intention of trading Gronk.
 

RedOctober3829

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King must have had lunch with Mara.

Two number 1s for a guy who quite likely in his last year with the Giants and has already expressed an interest in playing for the Rams. Yep, makes complete sense.
I think the Giants would franchise OBJ if it came to it so I don't think if he's in uniform at the start of the year in NY then he'll be franchised.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I think there's enough room to appreciate the humans behind our team's success, and to wish them well and a fulfilling life free of brain damage, that it probably deserves less than a sarcastic and dismissive one-liner out of you.
t

When did I suggest I don't wish him good health?

If Gronk decides he's concerned about his brain or his body and decides to retire, then God bless him and thanks for everything. Do I prefer it? Of course not and to go a step further, I don't pretend that I'm the one who can or should make that assessment, sitting on my couch. I'm certainly not going to sit here and say hes old at 29 and I'm all good with him and the teams success. Judge that as you like.
 
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