Out of all the drama surrounding the New England Patriots this offseason, one name that has been part of the soap opera is none other than Rob Gronkowski. Aside from the decision to continue playing in the NFL, Gronkowski is in the midst of getting a new contract with New England.

A large part of the reason why Gronkowski thought about calling it a career after Super Bowl LII was because he had a chance to earn a substantial amount of money in the WWE. While we all the know the ultimate decision he came too, the money still has not reached his pocket yet, with training less than a week away.

During a segment on The G.O.A.T. Podcast with Nora Princiotti from The Boston Globe, I asked Princiotti about Gronkowski’s contract situation. She explained what kind of contract she believes he has earned given his history with the team.

“After that weird motocross press conference where it seemed like everything was a disaster, he's been, you know, he's been a good soldier and I think he has a pretty good case to be making what he should be," Nora said. “If it's not a new contract, at least tack on an incentive package, that's pretty easy for him to get to. It is not, you know, financially it's certainly not an irresponsible move from the Patriots perspective.”

An incentive package makes the most sense right now for both sides. With Gronkowski hinting at retirement this offseason and the Patriots wary of his production because of his long history of injuries, an incentive package gives Gronk an opportunity to prove his worth and requires New England to pay him only if he reaches a certain level of performance in 2018-19.

Princiotti believes an agreement on a contract is right around the corner for both parties.

“He's got an $8,000,000 base salary, which I mean Trey Burton got that in free agency this year and I think we all know that Rob Gronkowski is a different category of player,” Nora said. “I think something will happen. Maybe it's in training camp, generally they like to get this stuff squared away before the scene starts. I don't really see any reason why it shouldn't happen.”

While the “good soldier” approach may help speed up the process of a contract negotiation between Gronkowski and the Patriots, it will no doubt be interesting to see how New England values Gronkowski given the offseason drama that was instilled over the last five months. 

Click here to listen to the full conversation with Nora Princiotti on The G.O.A.T. Podcast.