By John Sarianides

The New England Patriots have restructured tight end Rob Gronkowski‘s contract. Gronkowski was scheduled to earn $5.25 million in 2017 but thanks to a restructuring of his current contract, Gronkowski could potentially earn $10.75 million which would make him the highest paid tight end in the NFL.

Gronkowski has been grossly underpaid throughout his career considering his production so he deserves the pay increase. In order for Gronkowski to earn the pay raise, he needs to hit one of four incentives.

Gronkowski must either play in 90 percent of the team’s snaps, catch 80 passes or 1200 yards or have an all-pro season. If Gronkowski doesn’t reach those benchmarks, he could still earn $8.75 million if he’s available for 80 percent of the 2017 season or catches 70 passes or 1,000 receiving yards or 12 touchdowns. There is also a third tier in his new contract that would net the four-time Pro Bowl tight end $6.75 million if he plays 70 percent of the team’s snaps or 60 receptions or 800 receiving yards or 10 touchdowns. All attainable goals provided Gronk stays healthy. As we well know with him, that is not a given considering he has only played two full seasons (2011, 2015) in his career.

As we saw last season, the Patriots don’t necessarily need Gronkowski to win a Super Bowl. Bill Belichick has assembled enough talent on the offensive side of the ball, that the Patriots could survive and win without him. As we all know however, the Patriots are a better team with him than without him.

The Patriots could be a juggernaut offensively next season, especially if Gronkowski can stay on the field. He has plenty of financial incentive to do so. The Patriots have made a commitment to him. We know Gronk will honor the commitment by working hard to get back on the field but he must find a way to stay healthy otherwise the Patriots will suffer offensively and so will Gronkowski’s wallet.