We talk about Kansas City Chiefs GM Scott Pioli signing players to extensions before their current contracts are up and today comes a good example of why he likes to do that.

The New England Patriots inked Rob Gronkowski to a six-year contract extension, reportedly worth $54 million in new money. He had two years remaining on his current contract so the Patriots easily could've let him sweat it out.

But they didn't. They did a deal now that will pay Gronkowski around $7 million per year, which is slightly below the highest paid tight ends in the league.

If the Patriots had waited for Gronkowski's current deal to run out, they would have lost a ton of leverage and I doubt they would've signed him for an average of $7 million per year.

Candidates in KC for contract extensions this season include Branden Albert and Glenn Dorsey.