The New England Patriots and Rob Gronkowski have restructured his deal for the 2017 season, giving him a chance to become the highest-paid tight end in the NFL.
The new deal will give Gronkowski a chance to boost his salary this year from $5.25 million to $10.75 million, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus.
The new incentives include:
-- First tier, which gets Gronkowski $10.75 million with either 90 percent play time, 80 catches, 1,200 receiving yards or an All-Pro recognition (which he's made four times).
-- Second tier, which gets Gronkowski $8.75 million if he reaches 80 percent play time, 70 catches, 1,000 receiving yards or 12 touchdowns.
-- Third tier, which gets Gronkowski $6.75 million if he reaches 70 percent playing time, 60 receptions, 800 receiving yards or 10 TDs.
By comparison, in each of the past three years, Gronkowski's playing-time percentages were: 70.3 percent in 2014; 84.2 percent in '15; 31.5 percent in '16.
Gronkowski, 28, hasn't played a 16-game season since 2011, his second year in the league. Including the playoffs, he has missed 30 of the team's 92 games over the past five seasons.
The tight end has played fewer than 400 snaps in two of the past four years, including a 2016 Super Bowl season that was ended early by his third-career back surgery.
At $10 million, Jimmy Graham of the Seattle Seahawks has the highest cash value for 2017 among tight ends.
Information from ESPN's Mike Reiss was used in this report.
