After getting selected in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft by the New England Patriots, Rob Gronkowski represented the Boston-based franchise for nine years, and for two years, he played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In between, he retired for a few months after falling out of love with football before making a comeback.
Over the eleven years Gronk was active in the NFL, he made roughly $70.6 million from NFL contracts. However, he did not spend a single penny of that money.
Speaking on the 4th and South podcast, hosted by his former Buccaneers teammate Leonard Fournette and retired NFL wide receiver Jarvis Landry, Gronkowski revealed that he chose to save the NFL money because he never really envisioned himself having a long league career.
I was a second-round pick, 4 million dollars, $3.5 million was like guaranteed… So, if I play those four, and that's all I have… I can put $2 million in the bank… I am good. The way I live, I can go on for a while. I thought renting an apartment was just great, I didn't know a high standard of living. I got brought up, as kind of more of a frugal guy, frugal family.
Rob Gronkowski statedThe reason Gronk did not touch his league money is that he earned plenty of dough from various endorsements.
Gronkowski chose to live off the money he made from endorsements, which included deals with Dunkin' Donuts, Visa, T-Mobile, Lyft, Cheerios, Monster Energy Drink, Tide, and a popular commercial with USAA.
After just two years in the league, Gronk signed his first big contract. He put pen to paper on a six-year, $54 million contract extension. And the best part of the deal was that it included an $8 million signing bonus, but otherwise left the 2012 and 2013 seasons of his rookie contract intact.
He won three Super Bowls and justified the Patriots' faith in him. After the 2018 season, Gronk walked away from football for one year and only agreed to return because Tom Brady asked him to.
Ahead of the start of the 2020 season, the Patriots (held his playing/league rights) traded Gronkowski to the Buccaneers. In his first year with the NFC franchise, Gronk won his fourth championship ring. The 36-year-old claimed that the 2020 Bucs team was the best he had ever played on.
Oh man, the 2020 [Tampa Bay] Bucs. I would say skill-wise, I think that team was probably the best skill set team I've ever been on throughout my career on that team. Like on the Buss. I mean, we had everyone, dude. We had Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Lenny, Cam Brate, and then our other running back, Ronald Jones.
Gronk saidIn 2021, he signed a one-year extension worth $10 million. He retired from football in June 2022.
In 2025, Gronk came out of retirement for a second time to sign a one-day contract with the New England club and retired as a Patriot. Rob Gronkowski played a total of 142 games, caught 621 passes for 9286 yards, and scored 92 touchdowns.
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