The Patriots will pick up the rest of Rob Gronkowski‘s $10MM option bonus before March 9th, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). So, as expected, the tight end will not reach free agency. 
New England paid $4MM of that option bonus last year and paying the additional $6MM of this bonus now will trigger the rest of Gronkowski’s extension. The Patriots now have the rights to the tight end for four more seasons at $34MM. The superstar will have modest cap numbers of $6.6MM and $7MM in the next two seasons before those figures balloon to $11MM and $12MM in 2018 and ’19.
In 2015, Gronk caught 72 passes for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns across 15 regular season games. For yet another season, Gronkowski established himself as one of the most lethal tight ends in the game today. For his efforts, Gronk earned his third First-Team All-Pro selection and his fourth Pro Bowl nod.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
What a steal
On the flip side there’s the Aaron Hernandez fiasco. So give and take I guess.