Before kickoff on Sunday, rumors that the Patriots had looked into trading All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski during the offseason began to fly.
From @gmfb Weekend: TE Rob Gronkowski made clear this offseason that he would only play for the #Patriots. That ended trade talks in their tracks. pic.twitter.com/4LgtaB97aq
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 9, 2018
Then, Gronkowski went out and had a monster of a game against the Houston Texans, reeling in seven passes out of eight targets from Tom Brady for 123 yards and a touchdown.
The day after the game, Brady was extremely complimentary of his favorite target.
“They did a good job on him, just trying to keep him out of the game. But it is tough because he’s so talented. He’s the best tight end in the league—probably the best to ever play the game,” Brady said. “When you have that guy on your team, you have to give him looks. We did, and he came up big for us.”
The superstar quarterback also said that the rest of the team has to do their best to emulate Gronk’s level of play.
“He’s a big part of what we do, and we all have to match his greatness. All of us, in order to be a great offense,” Brady said. “Teams focus on him, which gives other guys opportunities, and we’re going to have to take advantage of those opportunities when we get them.”
Other than getting praise from Brady, Gronkowski has about 4.3 million other reasons to continue to play at a high level this season, thanks to the reworked contract he received last month that features seven figures worth of performance bonuses.
Patriots reworked TE Rob Gronkowski’s contract, adding $4.3 million to his contract this year, per @RosenhausSports
Added $1 million in per game bonuses and $3.3 million in incentives, boosting max value to $13.050 million. Similar to Tom Brady structure. pic.twitter.com/XYy6xIg5Iu— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2018
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