Vrabel: ‘Nothing new to report’ with CB Gonzalez

It’s $102 million guaranteed for the 24-year-old Gonzalez, who is entering his fourth season after being drafted 17th overall in 2023. Gonzalez went without an interception during the regular season last year, but he was a Pro Bowler anyway and he did come up with a huge pick in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship versus the Broncos. The Patriots had him under control for two more years after exercising his fifth-year option in April.

Gonzalez is apparently “non-committal” about playing in Week 1 against the Seahawks. The Patriots, meanwhile, are reportedly prepared to make Gonzalez the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback by surpassing the $33 million-per-year mark set by Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon. The problem is that the two sides have “fundamental” disagreements over the deal’s length and structure. Kickoff is five days away. Stay tuned.

Gonzalez employs the same agent as Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon, who recently reset the positional market at $33 million per year. According to Schefter, the Patriots have never come close to that number. The Patriots exercised Gonzalez’s fifth-year option in April, so Gonzalez has two seasons remaining on his contract. Schefter believes that if the two sides fail to agree on a new deal early in the year, it “opens up a whole range of options” next offseason, like a potential trade.

Gonzalez and the Pats have continued negotiations on a top-of-the-market extension for the 24-year-old cornerback, but are not yet close to an agreement. Fellow corner Devon Witherspoon signed his deal earlier in August but Gonzalez has still yet to sign a similar or slightly larger deal. He said, “it’s frustrating, but I’m focused on the season.” A deal can still come before the Patriots play in Week 1 but it’s clear Gonzalez is disappointed in negotiations despite not holding out.

Gonzalez missed practice on Tuesday, didn’t play in the Patriots’ preseason game on Thursday and remains off the field for Saturday’s practice. Still awaiting a contract extension from the Patriots, Gonzalez’ absence is related to an injury he suffered in practice last week, according to Patriots HC Mike Vrabel. While Gonzalez won’t practice, Vrabel said he’ll get treatment and work on conditioning, which implies the injury isn’t serious.

“These are my guys,” Gonzalez said. “It’s hard to sit and just watch. I like to be out on the field. This is what I love to do. At the end of the day, I’ve got to get better for myself and for the team. I’m focused on being here at training camp right now, taking it day-by-day, and see where it goes.” Gonzalez has (per Robert Kraft) been offered a top of the market amount for a cornerback. We’ll see where this goes, but it’s great news for the Pats that Gonzalez isn’t holding in.

The number to beat is $31 million. That’s the highest average annual value currently at the cornerback position and it comes from Rams CB Trent McDuffie’s four-year, $124 million extension that included $100 million guaranteed. Gonzalez, who was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time last year, is aiming for a contract in that range. He reported to mandatory minicamp earlier this offseason, but didn’t participate in drills. Gonzalez was spotted at Patriots training camp on Saturday. While he doesn’t officially have a new contract quite yet, negotiations appear to be coming to an end. Kraft stated that the team hopes to have Gonzalez, who turned 24 last month, for a long time.

Vrabel was noncommittal about whether Gonzalez would participate in practice, instead saying he “would expect him to participate.” The fourth-year corner is in the midst of contract negotiations and could reset the cornerback market when he eventually agrees to an extension. Gonzalez reported to mandatory minicamp earlier this offseason but did not participate in full team drills, and there’s been some speculation he could opt to hold in at camp while waiting for a new deal. The Patriots will take the practice field for the first time on Saturday, whether or not Gonzalez joins them in full capacity will be something to watch for.

The Seahawks have “made an extraordinary effort” to sign Witherspoon before training camp, per Rapoport. The deal would “almost certainly” make Witherspoon the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL and Rapoport said $32 million a season would be the new benchmark and he’d be surprised if the deal wasn’t around there. Sounds like there’s a chance this deal is knocked out sooner rather than later, and obviously if and when it does get done, Christian Gonzalez of the Patriots will be next in line to get his own record-setting extension.

Reiss believes Gonzalez “might have been sending a message to the team this spring” by sitting out the majority of the voluntary program and participating only in “the lower-speed/lower-tempo parts of mandatory minicamp.” We think Reiss is probably onto something here. Gonzalez turned 24 today and has already earned one second-team All-Pro nod and Pro Bowl honors, and is under team control for two more years after his fifth-year option was picked up this offseason. It’s in Gonzalez’s best interests to do whatever he can to get an extension now, so a hold-in would not be a surprising result.