Dwayne Allen, Patriots Reportedly Agree to Reworked Contract

Veteran tight end Dwayne Allen agreed to restructure his contract with the New England Patriots for the 2018 NFL season, ESPN.com's Field Yates reported Thursday. 

According to Yates, Allen will receive less than the $4.5 million he was originally set to earn as his base salary for the upcoming year.

The move comes on the same day the Patriots negotiated a restructured contract with Rob Gronkowski. According to ESPN.com's Mike Reiss, the four-time All-Pro can earn $1 million in per-game roster bonuses and another $3.3 million if he hits certain statistical thresholds.

Back in June, Reiss speculated Allen's future in New England could potentially be in jeopardy if he had declined to take a pay cut in 2018. However, Reiss added Allen was "a strong locker room presence, hard worker and dominant blocker," all of which gave the Patriots compelling reasons to keep him on the roster.

New England acquired Allen in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts ahead of the 2017 season. He played in every game for the team, finishing with 10 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Despite those underwhelming numbers, Allen has plenty of value to the Patriots as a nice foil to Gronkowski. Allen can do the dirty work in run-blocking and pass protection, thus allowing Gronk even more freedom as a pass-catcher.

The fact the Patriots wanted to reconfigure Allen's deal instead of cutting him shows how he'll have a role to play for the team in 2018.