Rob Gronkowski shocked the fans of the New England Patriots when he flirted with his career after the Super Bowl. The Tight End still hasn’t made a final statement on his plans – but according to reports he’s continuing to play in 2018.
This is reported by NFL network insider Ian Rapoport. Accordingly, it is now assumed that Gronk will remain the patriots, at least for the coming season.
Gronkowski’s reaction immediately after the Super Bowl had caused a sensation. Asked by a reporter whether the premature end of his career could be an option, he suggested that the idea was already in the air:”I don’t know where you got this information from. But I will definitely worry about my future.”
They will “sit together in the next two weeks and then we will see where I stand”. ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington later reported that Gronk had been playing with the idea of resigning for a while. Also, Gronk had already been thinking about the end of his career weeks before he suffered a concussion in the AFC Championship Game against Jacksonville. According to Darlington, the idea of ending his career prematurely is therefore “very serious”.
The 28-year-old enters the penultimate year of his patriot contract in 2018 and charges New England’s salary cap 10.9 million dollars. If he had indeed chosen to resign prematurely, he would have waived at least 17 million dollars in Base Salary and around 1.4 million dollars in management bonus payments over the next two years.