As weird as it sounds, i would try to reach a 2-year extension no matter what, especially now, to reward him for his relentless efforts to come back from all those injuries and to let him know the club backs him and trusts in his long term value (which would certainly motivates him to come back and get ready for the first week of february), as long as Gronk himself "keeps the faith" and the doctors don't see too much of a risk for his long term health. I would totally respect if he starts to change his mind and feels football may no longer be worth putting his post-career health in jeopardy at this point of his HOF career.
The fact is a healthy Gronk is the most devastating weapon an offensive coordinator could dream of, and locking him for the rest of the Brady-Belichick window basically means giving the team another shot every year to get a difference maker available come january.
I'm sure Gronk and the Pats agree on this and they have been trying to reach a new deal so far. Gronk would have to accept less guaranteed money, and the Pats would certainly have to load his incentive (playing time / performance. / team success) up to what a durable and productive Gronk would virtually deserve (which is close to the top WR salary range objectively). I would feel OK with a new five year contract that creates an annual average ajusted cap hit (after calculating the LTBE/NLTBE bonuses at end of each season) that could vary from 7/8 to 12/13M$. 7/8M$ would be a high price to pay in the years Gronk ends his season on IR list, but 12/13M$, with the ever-rising salary cap, would be a bargain for 19 games of an All Pro / OPOY-caliber Gronk that helps us win another Lombardi (best case scenario).
I may be completely mistaken about the doability of such a deal let alone the actual chances of Gronk still being Gronk through the next five years, but that's my hope.
