Rob Gronkowski Jokes He'll Return to Patriots if The Signing Bonus is Right

Rob Gronkowski has officially retired as a member of the New England Patriots. But if it were up to owner Robert Kraft, the all-time great tight end would be a member of the Patriots for one more game.

Kraft asked Gronkowski if he would like to turn the one-day contract he signed with the Patriots on Wednesday into a two-day deal so he could suit up for the team's game against the New York Jets on Thursday night. Gronkowski was willing to play ball, but only under one condition. 

"Sure, what's the signing bonus?" Gronkowski asked Kraft. 

"Nothing's changed," Kraft said with a smile.

The exchange between Gronkowski and Kraft was one of the highlights from his retirement ceremony on Wednesday. After announcing during "FOX NFL Sunday" that he would be retiring as a member of the Patriots this week, Gronkowski wanted to retire as a member of the team to fulfill the wish of a longtime friend.

Susan Hurley, a former Patriots cheerleader who was a charity partner of Gronkowski's and worked with hundreds of area charities through her company CharityTeams, said during the opening of a "Gronk Playground" in Boston back in August that she wanted to see Gronkowski retire as a member of the Patriots. When Hurley died from cancer earlier in November, Gronkowski said honoring her request was an "absolute no-brainer."

"The whole Gronk persona, everything about myself ... was all because of the fans here in New England, was all because of my teammates accepting me and everyone else here," Gronkowski said on Wednesday. "Just accepting who I was from the very beginning and embracing it and letting me just play the game of football out on the football field."

Gronkowski spent the majority of his 11-year NFL career with the Patriots, winning