When New England Patriots training camp opened on Saturday, owner Robert Kraft revealed that the team offered Christian Gonzalez a contract that would make him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL and the highest-paid player in Patriots history.
Almost a week later, it appears the two sides still have plenty of work to do to agree on a contract extension.
“They aren’t close right now,” Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said on Thursday’s Early Edition. “That doesn’t mean it can’t change quickly. These things can change fast.”
Gonzalez spoke after Tuesday’s practice about Kraft’s comments, stating that he doesn’t want to negotiate his new deal through the media. The 24-year-old has remained a full participant in team drills so far in camp, including in the first padded practice on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks have an identical situation with their prized CB Devon Witherspoon. Both Gonzalez and Witherspoon are looking to sign record-setting contracts.
“I think it is a gesture of good faith that he is practicing, but I think both these guys are looking for the same thing, which is a market setter on every measure,” Breer added. “And that’s where they should be at the beginning of the negotiation. For right now, that puts the two sides further apart. …
“So, as of right now, what Witherspoon and Gonzalez are looking at, they’re saying, ‘Well, look at these other positions. Look at what happened with the edge rushers going from Nick Bosa to Myles Garrett to Micah Parsons to Will Anderson. It escalated from $34 (million) to $50 million in a hurry. Same sort of thing happened at receiver with Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. They’re looking for something that’s gonna reset the market the way that the market was reset at those positions. It’s just, when you’re doing the deal early, it can’t be reset in every single way. So that’s where they’re going to have to find a compromise.”
If and when Gonzalez is signed to an enormous extension, he’ll be worth every penny. The 2023 first-round draft pick has already established himself as arguably the best cornerback in the league. That makes him extremely underpaid heading into the 2026 campaign with two years and roughly $21 million left on his rookie contract. He’s set to make $2.8 million this year and about $20.9 million on his fully guaranteed fifth-year option in 2027.
To become the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, Gonzalez would have to sign a four-year deal worth about $125 million.
An interesting wrinkle to the negotiations: Gonzalez and Witherspoon are represented by the same agent, Reggie Johnson. So if Johnson believes Witherspoon can sign a deal worth more than the Patriots’, he can wait for Witherspoon to sign, then force Kraft to stick to his word about making Gonzalez the league’s highest-paid CB.
Gonzalez and the Patriots will return to the practice field on Friday at 10:15 a.m. ET.
