The Patriots have taken the next step toward keeping cornerback Christian Gonzalez in New England for years to come.
Gonzalez officially had his fifth-year option picked up today, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
That’s no surprise, but it would be a major surprise if Gonzalez actually plays on his fifth-year option, which would be an $18.1 million salary in 2027. More likely, the Patriots and Gonzalez will agree to a long-term contract extension this year.
The 23-year-old Gonzalez was the Patriots’ first-round pick in 2023 and has played very well through the first three seasons of his NFL career. He’ll likely sign one of the most lucrative contracts in NFL history for a cornerback.
Patriots tight end Hunter Henry and linebacker Robert Spillane both fielded questions about head coach Mike Vrabel’s messaging to the team when they held press conferences from the team’s facility on Tuesday.
Multiple media outlets have posted pictures of Vrabel and reporter Dianna Russini interacting in multiple situations away from work over many years over recent weeks and Vrabel was not with the team during the final day of the draft in order to seek counseling and be with his family, but both Henry and Spillane said that the situation has not impacted the team’s focus on work during their offseason program.
“Coach coaches football and he keeps the main thing, the main thing,” Spillane said. “I know he’s dealing with personal issues, but when we’re in the building, we speak football.”
Henry said he thought Vrabel did “a great job” addressing players about the situation and has been “the same Vrabes” when the team has been in the facility. He also said that “everybody’s focused on the task at hand” as they prepare for the 2026 season.
“Obviously I know you guys want to hear about everything that’s going on,” Henry said. “To be honest with you, I’m focused on what we got going on right now in this building, with this team. Obviously had a long season last year, quick turnaround into the offseason, we’re in a new building. And every year is a new year, so we’re trying to build this team, we’re trying to come together, so I’m just focused on the guys in this locker room, and trying to build it from the ground up again. We have a long journey ahead of us; we have to start somewhere, so we’re starting right now.”
There will be many more opportunities for Patriots players to be asked about Vrabel in the days and weeks to come. The answers will likely be variations on the ones that Henry and Spillane offered on Tuesday as long as no future developments lead to a change in Vrabel’s status at any point this offseason.
ESPN won’t comment on whether it will be reviewing the reporting of former ESPN (and The Athletic) reporter Dianna Russini, given the photos published last week of Russini with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel in March 2020. That won’t stop others from reviewing her reporting as to matters relating to Vrabel’s team at the time.
As it relates to the 2021 trade that sent receiver Julio Jones from the Falcons to the Titans, it’s fair to wonder whether the reporting was calculated to help Tennessee secure the player under the most favorable terms.
Tony Farmer, who has been extensively covering the situation on Twitter, has found another report that objectively merits scrutiny.
As Farmer notes, Russini reported — only four days after the March 2020 photos reportedly were taken — that the Titans were “not interested” in quarterback Tom Brady, and that they were instead focused on extending the contract of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who had been named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2019.
While this item lacks the potential strategic benefits to the Titans of the Julio Jones reporting, it’s another bread crumb on a trail that people are now examining. And it’s fair to question whether the Titans were simply putting a positive P.R. spin on the possibility that the Brady had said “no thanks” to the Titans before the Titans created the impression that they were saying “no thanks” to Brady.
Although the 2020 negotiating window had not yet opened, rampant Brady tampering was happening. Teams were talking to him (and about him) before the official window for talking to him (or about him) had opened. It’s not unreasonable to think that, by March 15, he had crossed Tennessee off the list.
For now, it’s another piece of a puzzle that spans at least six years. And it underscores the reality that the NFL insider game isn’t about gumshoe reporting. It’s about leveraging the right relationships in order to be in position to be handed key pieces information, sometimes in ways that potentially benefit the source.
This latest nugget also helps explain ESPN’s relative silence regarding the entire story. ESPN largely ignored it until it had no choice but to cover it. While some have suggested it’s a result of the NFL’s recent acquisition of a 10-percent stake in ESPN, it’s possible ESPN doesn’t want to face the question of what it knew, and when it knew it.
In the aftermath of the April 7 publication by the New York Post of photos featuring Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini at a resort in Arizona, Vrabel has become the subject of a search for any existing images. And for the discovery of any new ones.
The Post has obtained photographs of Vrabel in the Salt Lake City airport. Per the report, the photos were taken on Saturday. He was alone at the time, shopping in one of the stores in the terminal.
Saturday, of course, was the third day of the draft. Vrabel announced last week that he’d be absent from the draft room for “counseling, starting this weekend.” On Saturday, ESPN reported that he’d be in “constant contact” with the Patriots during the third day of the draft, before retracting it.
As of early 2025, Vrabel owned a home in Park City, Utah.
We’ll defer any speculation or guesswork to others. The facts are the facts, if the facts as reported by the Post are accurate. The biggest takeaway is that Vrabel — who is very hard to miss — will now have eyes (and cameras) on him wherever he goes. Until the current situation dissolves to background noise, if then.
The Patriots released wide receiver John Jiles and tight end Marshall Lang on Monday, the team announced.
Jiles, 25, spent the past two seasons on the New England practice squad, and he signed a futures contract with the Patriots on Feb. 10. He has never played a regular-season game.
Jiles entered the NFL as a rookie free agent in 2024, signing with the Giants.
Lang, 24, had two stints on the New England practice squad last season, and he also spent time on the Seahawks’ practice squad.
Lang entered the NFL as a rookie free agent out of Northwestern in 2025, signing with the Seahawks. Seattle released him out of the preseason.
He appeared in 47 games during his college career and finished with 48 receptions for 491 yards and four touchdowns.
