AFC East Notes: Patriots, Gronk, Jets, Allen

Does Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski have a shot at maxing out his 2017 incentives? Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston checked in on Gronk’s deal to see if he can earn as much as $10.75MM this season through bonuses.

Gronk is currently on pace for 72 catches for 1,093 yards and nine touchdowns while playing in 81% of the Patriots’ snaps. Those numbers would put him in line to earn $8.75MM, the second-highest incentive tier. In order to reach the $10.75MM max, he would have to play in 90% of the Pats’ offensive snaps or record 80 catches or 1,200 receiving yards or earn All-Pro recognition. Of course, Gronk’s name recognition could help his All-Pro case, even if he doesn’t satisfy the other triggers for the top incentives package.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

  • The Jets love Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, a league source tells Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (on Twitter). Meanwhile, a Wyoming source tells Miller that the Jets have done more work on him than any other team. The Jets have gotten quality play out of Josh McCown so far this year, but they’ll almost certainly look to the free agent market and/or the draft for younger solutions since McCown will turn 39 in 2018. So far this year, Allen has thrown for 1,658 yards this season with 13 touchdowns against six picks. He has also rushed for 207 yards and five touchdowns off of 84 attempts.
  • Jesse Davis has been doing a decent job at right tackle and that could alter Ja’Wuan James‘ future with the Dolphins, Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) opines. If there’s no discernible difference between the two players, their salaries could be the tiebreaker. James, a 2014 first-round pick, is due $9.341MM through the fifth-year option, but the Dolphins can bail on that obligation before the start of the 2018 league year. It’s possible that James’ injury could be a season-ender, so he may have already played his final game for Miami.
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