NFL notebook: Patriots reportedly mulling options on Gronkowski

Although Rob Gronkowski hasn't publicly disclosed his playing future since moments after Super Bowl LII, one published report noted that the New England Patriots may be inclined to trade the mammoth tight end. The Boston Sports Journal cited a Patriots team source as saying that the "longer Gronkowski goes without saying he's all-in, the chances of him being traded increases." Per an ESPN report on Sunday, coach Bill Belichick is frustrated that Gronkowski hasn't committed to the team for the upcoming season. The 28-year-old Gronkowski reportedly isn't too keen on "The Patriot Way" as well, prompting his contemplation of retirement shortly after the team dropped a 41-33 decision to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Feb. 4. Gronkowski reported drew the ire of Belichick following his post regarding former Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola's offseason signing with the AFC East-rival Miami Dolphins. "Be FREE, Be HAPPY," Gronkowski wrote in a comment under a video of him hugging Amendola during a post on March 14. --The New York Jets claimed tight end Clive Walford off waivers on Monday, the team announced. The Oakland Raiders waived Walford last week. The Jets need a tight end because they lost tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency. Seferian-Jenkins had 50 receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns in 2017. Walford, 26, had just nine catches for 80 yards and no touchdowns while playing in 13 games for the Raiders last season. --Running back Benny Cunningham re-signed with the Chicago Bears, multiple media outlets reported Monday. The 27-year-old Cunningham, who is a third-down back and important special-teams players, visited with the New Orleans Saints on Monday, according to The Advocate, but he opted to return to the Bears. Cunningham had just nine rushing attempts for 29 yards last season, but he caught 20 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns in 2017. He also returned seven kicks for 147 yards. --Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield is heading to Cleveland on Monday to begin a two-day visit with the Browns, multiple outlets reported. The Browns are also hosting the other three top quarterbacks of the 2018 NFL Draft -- USC's Sam Darnold, UCLA's Josh Rosen and Wyoming's Josh Allen -- this week in Berea (Ohio), Cleveland.com reported. Coach Hue Jackson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Mayfield was "no doubt" in play for the Browns with the top overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, which will be held on April 26-28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Mayfield also is expected to head to New York for visits with the Jets and Giants, according to the New York Daily News. The Jets traded up three spots for the third overall pick in the draft while the Giants own the second selection. --Former NFL running back Isaiah Pead has set his sights on success at the 2020 Paralympics. Pead, who played in the NFL from 2012-16 with the then-St. Louis Rams and Miami Dolphins, had his left leg amputated partly up his thigh in November 2016 following a serious car accident. The 28-year-old, who has been learning to sprint with a prosthetic leg, has entertained thoughts of competing after winning state championships in the 100 and 400 meters in high school. Pead has loftier goals than that, too. He has eyed the 2024 and 2028 Paralympics. --The Los Angeles Chargers reached an agreement with quarterback Geno Smith on a one-year contract Sunday. The five-year veteran with 31 career starts for the New York Jets and New York Giants will compete for the backup job behind longtime starter Philip Rivers. Last season with the Giants, Smith made one start in a controversial move when Eli Manning was benched. In a 24-17 loss to the Oakland Raiders, Smith completed 21 of 34 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown but lost two fumbles before the Giants went back to Manning the following week. --Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly shared an Easter message from his hospital bed despite being unable to speak following surgery to remove cancer from his jaw. "Happy Easter to everyone. Thanks for the prayers. Love you all," Kelly wrote on a wipe board, courtesy of an Instagram post by his daughter, Erin Kelly-Bean. Wife Jill Kelly also took to social media to convey her thoughts on what it's like to see her husband in this condition following Wednesday's 12-hour surgery. "Better than yesterday, but a lot more healing needed," she wrote. "The doctors told us what to expect, but nothing could have prepared us. It wasn't only the cancerous tumor and lymph nodes that had to be removed. Jim's entire upper jaw has been reconstructed (using his left femur bone, etc.) due to radiation damage from his previous cancer treatment. He can't talk. But he can write. Thank God for wipe boards." --Free-agent wide receiver Brice Butler is expected to visit with the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, multiple media outlets reported. Butler spent the past three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He made his mark in a game in 2017 against Arizona, recording two catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. The 28-year-old set a career high with 317 receiving yards to go along with 15 catches and three touchdowns in 13 games last season. --Former then-Los Angeles Raiders and USC quarterback Todd Marinovich was arrested twice in a one-week span on undisclosed charges last month in California and remains in jail, multiple media outlets reported. Marinovich reportedly posted bail after being arrested on March 19 but was arrested again four days later. He remains in custody at the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, Calif. -- the same city where he was a high school football star at Mater Dei. The 48-year-old Marinovich is expected to be released May 3, according to jail records. Marinovich returned to football last season in a developmental league. --Long snapper Luke Rhodes signed a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts, the team announced. The Colts applied the tender to the exclusive rights free agent on March 14. Rhodes is the first of four exclusive rights free agents to sign with the Colts, who also tendered cornerback Chris Milton, tight end Erik Swoope and guard Jeremy Vujnovich. --Brian Urlacher has selected former coach Bob Babich as his presenter for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this August. Babich spent nine years (2004-12) with Urlacher, serving as a linebackers coach, assistant head coach and the defensive coordinator under Lovie Smith during his time with the Chicago Bears. --Ex-UCLA coach Jim Mora caused a stir last week by citing "fit" as the reason that the Cleveland Browns should select USC's Sam Darnold over his former quarterback, Josh Rosen. Mora, who coached Rosen for three years, did his best to clean up the muddied situation on the MMQB's Peter King. "Josh, I think, without a doubt, is the No. 1 quarterback in the draft," Mora told King. "He's a franchise-changer. He's got the ability to have an immediate impact. His arm talent, intelligence, and his ability to see the game and diagnose the game is rare. He'd come to the sidelines after a play and it was uncanny -- he could right away say exactly why he made every decision." That's a pretty glowing endorsement. So, why shouldn't the Browns select Rosen? "(Rosen) needs to be challenged intellectually so he doesn't get bored," Mora said. "He's a millennial. He wants to know why. Millennials, once they know why, they're good. Josh has a lot of interests in life. If you can hold his concentration level and focus only on football for a few years, he will set the world on fire. He has so much ability, and he's a really good kid." --The league is hoping to vote on a new owner for the Carolina Panthers next month, and the potential bidders are lining up. The latest interested party is South Carolina businessman Ben Navarro, who was scheduled to visit with the team at Bank of America Stadium on Monday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. Navarro is the founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group LLC., which is an investment and lending firm. Last week, Alan Kestenbaum, a Canadian steel billionaire, met with the team. Billionaire hedge fund manager and Pittsburgh Steelers minority owner David Tepper is expected to visit the Panthers in the near future, Rapoport reported. --Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green was pretty clear with his feelings in regard to the New York Giants' stance of possibly trading Odell Beckham, Jr. "That's stupid. That's stupid, man," Green told NFL Network at rapper Quavo's celebrity flag football game on Sunday. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime, or once-in-a-generation talent, man, and you've got to be ready. I think he'll get paid. They not that crazy." Speculation about a potential Beckham trade has been ratcheted up in recent weeks due to the impasse involving his contract negotiations. --New York Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan has come up empty on his first two attempts to secure a quarterback in the NFL Draft. After selecting Bryce Petty in the fourth round in 2015 and Christian Hackenberg in the second during the following year, Maccagnan is confident the third time will be the charm later this month. As for whether Maccagnan feels any extra pressure considering his two previous misfires as well as the Jets trading up three spots to the third overall pick ... well, he doesn't. "I'm very confident from that standpoint," Maccagnan said last week, per NJ.com. "That doesn't faze me. It's the college draft. Guys you'll hit on. Guys that don't pan out, that's part of the process. But we feel pretty good about this year's group and where we're situated." --Draft prospects get asked some unusual questions when interviewed by NFL team personnel, and Ohio State linebacker Jerome Baker provided an example when he said one NFL coach asked him what he would do if he was punched in the face. "The one question that sticks out is, I sat down, and the first thing the coach asked me is what I would do if he punched me in the face right now?" Baker said according to USA Today's Draft Wire. "To me, being from Cleveland, my natural reaction was, 'Coach, no disrespect but if you punch me in the face, we're gonna fight right here.' "That was just my natural response. I guess that's what he wanted to hear, because he said, 'Good.' It was definitely a fun interview. I didn't get asked too many weird questions."