The New England Patriots’ magical run to Super Bowl 60 is in the rearview mirror. Now, it’s time to conduct some business.
NFL free agency will begin in earnest next week, as Mike Vrabel and Co. decide which players on their roster to keep and who to sign on the open market. They also have a looming decision to make on star cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who is eligible for a contract extension this offseason as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.
Patriots legend Ty Law once was in Gonzalez’s position as one of the NFL’s best young cornerbacks seeking an extension on his rookie deal. Law eventually landed a seven-year, $50 million contract with New England that made him one of the league’s highest-paid cornerbacks, but later had a contract dispute with head coach/de facto general manager Bill Belichick in 2004 that led to his release.
Law joined Tom E. Curran on a special episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast to share a player’s perspective of the business side of the NFL, weighing in on Gonzalez’s contract situation, what it’s like negotiating contracts with Bill Belichick and more.
Ty Law on Christian Gonzalez’s contract
If the Patriots want to extend Gonzalez, they’d likely have to give him a lucrative contract worth at least the $30.1 million per year that Sauce Gardner recently earned on his deal.
That level of financial commitment could limit the Patriots in other areas. But Law believes Gonzalez is worth the cost.
“You pay the man,” Gonzalez told Curran. “One, you’ve got to look at youth. You look at a talent like that — you picked him in the first round for a reason. He’s one of your own. So, in my opinion, he’s lived up to the expectations.
“He is one of the top two, three, four corners in the game right now, no doubt. So, if you already have him in the building, do what’s right. Pay that man what he deserves to get paid.”
Law recalled that while he was negotiating his new deal with New England, he used the recent extensions of star corners Rod Woodson and Deion Sanders to make his case for a better deal. He believes the 23-year-old Gonzalez — fresh off a Pro Bowl season — should do the same.
“Deion was the first cornerback to get a $50 million contract,” Law said. “I just happened to be coming up right behind him, so not saying that I was Deion Sanders or anything like that, but the way I looked at it, I said, ‘I’m Primetime around New England!’
“You always look at the upside and the potential, because once you hit 30, things start going down. Even you as a player, you have to look at it a little bit different and you have to negotiate different. But when you have the leverage, you need to leverage to the max.”
Ty Law on negotiating with Belichick
Law helped the Patriots win three Super Bowls, but a foot injury prematurely ended his 2004 season in New England. While Law wanted to remain with the team, he and Belichick couldn’t find common ground on a new contract, and the team released him in February 2025.
“The only time me and Bill ever had any issues was contract time,” Law recalled. “Like I tell everybody, Bill is the nicest, dopest, best coach, friend you ever wanna have — until contract time: asshole. Bill was asshole at contract time.
“But again, you’ve got to respect his stance. And hopefully they respect your stance, and somewhere, you meet in the middle. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to meet in the middle.
“… People don’t understand those dynamics; me and Bill, we’ve met in the parking lot like we’re about to do a drug deal.”
Also in this episode:
- Ty discusses the new flavors in his Corvus Vodka line.
- Ty talks about the contract situations involving Stefon Diggs and Christian Gonzalez.
- How does Ty think Mike Vrabel will keep the team successful while negotiating with players?
