If I read this correctly, one of the key things I get from his current contract and what everyone in the media has missed is that Brady got $40MM up front on this current deal, and THAT is why his salary and cap numbers have been so low up to now.
He has NEVER taken short money to play for the Pats, but he's never demanded a Manning contract either. Like I have said on a number of occasions. Up to last season no QB put more actual money in the bank than Tom Brady. (reportedly Rodgers just passed him in 2017). Just like Deflategate is a myth that some people believe anyway, the myth that Brady has taken a lot less to play for the Pats is also a myth that EVERYBODY still believes
As for the OP -
Cut the crap that Gronk is "criminally underpaid". The Pats volunteered to pay him MILLIONS more. And this isn't the first time. They took the shot and tore up his rookie deal LONG before it came due. And let's not forget that these mediots ALWAYS think their binkies are being underpaid. Why wouldn't they? Most of their sources are the player's agents. Gronk is the top TE in the league and the Pats are paying him like it.
And just another thought on Gronk. If you are "thinking" about retirement, then you are well on the way to retirement. I wouldn't invest more than a year or two on Gronk at this point. In fact, I think they can squeeze another great year out of him, but I'd be looking to move on from him after this season. He might not be close to done physically, but he IS mentally.
As for Brady, like I said, he has nothing to b!tch about what the Pats have paid him over the years, and the fact is he never has. Again its the media pukes who are stirring the fire with all their speculation that "something is wrong with the Patriot Way"
Agree about Brady, 100%.
WRT Gronk ...
When he was given the 6-year extension to his rookie deal way back in 2012 (after only 2 years in the league), it was considered to be HUGE, and not just for a TE. At the time, many top WRs hadn't gotten that much on their second contracts. IOW, beginning in 2014, he would be getting paid like a top WR.
It's not difficult to imagine that this was at least part of the impetus for Jimmy Graham's suit to be reclassified as a WR for Franchise Tag purposes. Ironically, while the NFL denied Graham's demand back in the summer of 2014, since then, it's become fairly clear that many newer "receiving TEs" are TEs in name only because they don't really block much, if at all.
Anyway, even though the Pats have adjusted Gronk's extension recently, in the interim, WR contracts have skyrocketed past his pay rate, and not just for the top guys.
Gronk's average receiving production for the past four seasons (in spite of missing half of the 2016 season) is significantly greater than WRs who have been getting contracts in the $13M-$16M APY range with $14M-$30M guaranteed. Gronk's APY for the final two years of his (now) six-year-old deal is $11.5M, and he has no new guaranteed money coming.
The Pats have already sort of acknowledged this with the $5.5M in new incentive bonuses they added for last season. While he fell just short on the statistical production requirements (he missed two games and wasn't targeted in another), he earned the maximum by being named to the Pro Bowl first team and bumped his 2017 cash payout to ~$12M. But then, too, in spite of missing the time (and the statistical incentives), he still finished the regular season ranked ..
8th - receiving yards per game
8th (t) - receiving TDs
8th (t) - number of 20yd+ receptions
9th - receiving 1st downs
10th - total receiving yds
12th - yards/catch
These rankings (and higher) have been typical for Gronk in a "healthy" season. And, had Gronk actually achieved his statistical incentives, he'd have been ranked 5th or 6th in most of these receiving production categories.
So, while the notion that he's "criminally underpaid" is a ludicrous exaggeration, a fairly reasonable argument can be made that he's not being paid at a market rate commensurate with his receiving production (not to mention the value he adds as a real blocker who elevates the ground game - something the WRs who are getting paid far more can't offer). Taking the emotion out of it, then, an extension-restructure that provides $15M in new guaranteed money and that increases his APY from $11.5M to $14M doesn't seem at all out of line.
And that pay rate would still only be equivalent to that of the 12th-highest-paid WR.