What Would You Have Traded For Rob Gronkowski?

As Weston posted earlier today, your Houston Texans were reportedly in talks, at some point earlier this offseason, with the New England Patriots about acquiring Rob Gronkowski in trade. We have no idea how far along those discussions got; it’s quite possible they never advanced beyond a preliminary stage. Nevertheless, as a petty way to mine for content a thought exercise, I want to know what you, if you were playing the role of Brian Gaine, would have given up to add Gronkowski to the Texans.

Gronk has two years left on his current contract, and dissatisfaction with that deal was believed to be one of the reasons, if not the primary driver, why Gronkowski skipped OTAs. So we’d have to assume that a new contract for Gronk would be a consequence of any team trading for him. What that deal would look like is entirely speculative, of course, but here’s a list of the current largest tight end contracts; it stands to reason that Gronkowski would want to reclaim his status as the game’s highest-paid at his position, both in terms of average yearly salary and guaranteed dollars.

The Texans currently have all their selections in the 2019 NFL Draft, plus the second-round pick they got from the Seahawks in the Duane Brown trade. Knowing you’d have to pay him beyond 2019 via what’d likely be a market-setting deal, which of those picks would you part with to add Rob Gronkowski if you were running the Texans? Would a deal become more palatable if the focus was on 2020 picks?

What would be your best and final offer to the Patriots if you were serious about transforming the tight end position in Houston?