Photo: jdn, Flickr The New England Patriots have the most lethal tight end tandem in the NFL, and they're going to keep it that way as long as possible.
Monday, the Patriots extended Aaron Hernandez's contract to five additional years, etching his spot in New England until at least 2018, according to NFL.com.
The extension comes just months after the Patriots piled on a few more years to the league's-best tight end in Rob Gronkowski with a $54 million extension of his own.
Hernandez is extremely versatile and has often lined up at receiver as well as taken some snaps at running back, so in addition to being Gronkowski's clear-cub 1B, he makes players from other positions expendable.
Hernandez has caught 13 touchdowns over the last two seasons.
This offseason, New England never reached a long-term deal with receiver Wes Welker, who is playing on the franchise tag, and the star tight ends' big-money extensions doesn't bode well for Welker next year in terms of getting the most money possible from the Patriots.
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