Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez is seeking a new contract as he heads into his fourth pro season.
While he’s been away from OTAs, he did participate in Drake Maye’s charity softball event over the weekend. His teammate, Marcus Jones, noted that it’s a “day-by-day thing.”
On Tuesday, head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the situation and if the club was working toward resolving it so that he would participate in minicamp.
“I think the contract is the business and the professional side of this,” Vrabel said, via transcript from the team. “The personal side, I don’t want to let anything interfere with that. I want Christian to be ready when he comes back.
“I would imagine that he would be here next week. If he is, then we’ll coach him, be ready to move on, and get him ready to help us and help himself. Contracts are part of professional sports, I understand that. But I also know that those should remain private. Like any contract negotiation, you want to make sure that everybody feels like they get something out of it, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Gonzalez, who turns 23 later this month, has registered three interceptions and 24 passes defensed in his 34 career games. He had seven CDs, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception in New England’s four 2025 postseason games.
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Patriots tight end Julian Hill’s season ended before it began with an injury in a voluntary offseason practice, and head coach Mike Vrabel said today that he feels terrible about it.
Hill signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the Patriots in March after spending the last three years in Miami, and Vrabel said Hill had already made an impact with his hard work this offseason.
“Julian won’t be able to play this season, plain and simple. Devastating. Awful. I really enjoyed the person and want to have him around here as much as we possibly can,” Vrabel said. “He won’t be able to play this season. That’s just disappointing because of the impact he made in a short amount of time with his teammates, the person that he is, the way he practiced. We want Julian to be a part of us as much as possible, but he’s not going to do that on the field this year.”
The Patriots have not given any details about the specific nature of Hill’s injury, but it is reportedly to his knee.
The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Hill originally made the Dolphins’ roster as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and developed into a very good blocker and a decent receiver, and the Patriots had high hopes for him this season. Those hopes will have to wait until next season.
Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown is ready to get to work.
New England head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed today that Brown passed his physical and will participate in the Patriots’ voluntary practice today.
As everyone learned when the Raiders-Ravens Maxx Crosby trade fell through, trades in the NFL aren’t official until the traded player passes his physical. But Brown is now good to go.
Vrabel, who previously coached Brown in Tennessee, said he’s excited about Brown showing what he can do.
“He loves football. He has a physical skill set. I think he has great body control and can be strong at the catch point,” Vrabel said. “He’s been a productive, consistent player.”
The Patriots will get their first look at that skill set on the practice field today.
Wide receiver A.J. Brown’s final season with the Eagles featured a lot of talk about his dissatisfaction with the team’s offense and the nature of his relationship with quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Brown weighed in on the latter topic during an interview with Maria Taylor after Monday’s long-awaited trade to the Patriots. Brown said he doesn’t understand why there was so much attention paid to his relationship with Hurts, but acknowledged that the two men are “not as close as we once were” by the end of their final season together.
The receiver insisted “that didn’t stop anything” the team was trying to do on the field and said there was no particular incident that led to the change.
“Nothing happened, people just grow apart,” Brown said. “Nothing happened between me and him, or our families, wives, anything. Nothing like that ever happened. Life happens and you just look up sometimes and you just you find yourself drifting away and that’s fine. And I think both parties accepted that.”
Brown said he wants Hurts to do well and “accomplish everything his heart desires,” but he’ll no longer have a hand in helping Hurts or the Eagles reach any of their goals.
New Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown couldn’t be happier to reunite with head coach Mike Vrabel.
Brown said in an interview with Maria Taylor that it wasn’t always easy to play for Vrabel when the two were in Tennessee together during Brown’s first three NFL seasons. But Brown came to appreciate the reasons that Vrabel is such a tough coach.
“When I first got to Tennessee he was extremely tough on me, and I didn’t really understand what he was trying to do,” Brown said. “Obviously he was trying to push me to become the player I am today, but he was just so tough. I remember a conversation, I was talking to him, like, ‘You don’t have to humble me. I came from humble beginnings.’ I just never understood, he stayed on me all the time.”
Brown said that as he spent more time with Vrabel, he began to learn that Vrabel was hard on him because Vrabel genuinely wanted to get the best out of him.
“He was holding me accountable, and we grew close over the years,” Brown said.
Asked what Vrabel said to him yesterday when the trade became official, Brown said it was something he heard from Vrabel plenty of times in Tennessee.
“Get open and catch the ball,” Brown said. “That’s what he always says.”
After the Eagles shipped receiver A.J. Brown to the Patriots on Monday for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, Philadelphia G.M. Howie Roseman met with a group of reporters to discuss the move.
As Roseman see it, a first-round pick is a first-round pick, whether that pick is made in 2026, 2027, or 2028.
“For us to take a 2026 pick, and that’s a late first-round pick, and obviously also have to deal with the cap consequences that come with making a trade prior to June 1, it made some sense for us to look at future picks,” Roseman said, via Zach Berman of The Athletic. “We’ve always been in the mindset a pick is a pick — a first-round pick is a first-round pick. Doesn’t matter. Teams are still going to be playing football in 2028.”
Right, but many teams generally regard a future first-round pick as a current second-round pick. That said, if the Patriots struggle in 2027, the pick in 2028 will be much higher than the 31st overall pick the Eagles would have gotten in 2026.
Then there’s the difference between overall classes. At this point, no one truly knows how “good” the 2028 class will be, relative to 2027.
It’s safe to say the Eagles would have preferred a first-round pick in 2027.
Regardless, it was a win to get any first-round pick for a player who no longer wanted to be with the Eagles, and whom the Eagles no longer wanted to keep. After months of speculation that the shelf life on the relationship had expired, the Eagles finally moved on.
“I think from our perspective, getting a first-round pick for our team, having two first-round picks in ‘28 is a huge, huge part of this move,” Roseman said. “I think that when you look at that and obviously the options of what you’re able to do with having multiple first-round picks, it’s a huge game-changer, and feel very, very confident that those picks are the most valuable things that you can add as you’re building your team. I know there’s a lot of attention on the 2027 draft, but at the same time, looking at the ‘28 draft, I feel confident that that’s going to be a good draft as well, and that we’ll be in position to really improve our football team.”
It’s a glass-half-full assessment of the situation. Ultimately, the Eagles got only four seasons from Brown in exchange for the first-round pick they sacrificed in 2022. And he helped them win a Super Bowl.
Still, if they’d used that selection, they could have gotten a player who could be entering his prime in 2026. Instead, after four years with Brown, they’ll get a first-round pick six years after the first-round pick they gave up to get Brown in the first place.
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez is staying away from the team’s organized team activities as he seeks a contract extension.
Teammate Marcus Jones explained Gonzalez’s stance during Drake Maye’s MayeDay Softball Classic. (Gonzalez participated in the event but apparently didn’t speak to the media.)
“It’s a day-by-day thing. I’ve been in the situation of learning about how contract negotiations stuff goes about,” Jones said, via Karen Guregian of masslive.com. “At the end of the day, they want what’s best for them, and he wants what’s best for him as well.”
The Patriots exercised the fifth-year option on Gonzalez’s contract, which would pay him $18.1 million for the 2027 season. He is scheduled to make $2.259 million in base salary this season.
Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie is at the top of the market at the position with an annual average of $31 million. Gonzalez and Seattle cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who also is seeking an extension, share the same agent.
Gonzalez, the 17th overall pick in 2023, made second-team All-Pro in 2024 and the Pro Bowl in 2025. He has totaled 145 tackles, two interceptions, 24 pass breakups and a sack in three seasons.
“He means a lot. When it comes down to it, we support him and also the organization,” Jones said. “At the end of the day, that’s their thing. We’re ready when it comes down to him. I know he’s always one of those guys where no matter where he’s at, he’s always working.”
A.J. Brown became the Patriots’ No. 1 wide receiver as soon as the trade with Philadelphia became official on Monday.
Appropriately, Brown will wear No. 1 with his new team.
The Patriots announced Brown’s new jersey number while announcing the trade that sent him to New England in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
He wore No. 11 in his three seasons with the Titans and his four seasons with the Eagles. That number, which wide receiver Julian Edelman once wore in New England, was available with the Patriots after they released quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
Instead, Brown will go back to his college number.
He wore No. 1 at Ole Miss.
A.J. Brown deleted his X account, but he still has his Instagram account. That’s what he used to thank the organization, teammates and Eagles fans after the trade from Philadelphia became official on Monday afternoon.
“Eagles Nation,
“Thank you for welcoming my family and me with open arms from day one. This city, this locker room, and this fan base will always hold a special place in my heart.
“To my brothers in that locker room: Thank you for going to battle with me every single day. The memories we made together, on and off the field, are something I’ll carry with me forever.
“To the coaching staff, trainers, equipment staff, cafeteria workers, and the cleaning crew: Thank you for everything you do behind the scenes to keep us going. There are so many people in the building who make it possible for us to go out there and compete, and I’m grateful for all of you.
“Playing for this city has been an honor, and I’m thankful for every moment I had in midnight green.
“Thank you, Philly. Much love always. God bless.”
In four seasons in Philadelphia, Green made 339 receptions for 5,034 yards and 32 touchdowns.
The Patriots officially acquired wide receiver A.J. Brown in a trade with the Eagles on Monday afternoon. They needed to make a corresponding move, and they did, placing tight end Julian Hill on injured reserve.
Hill cannot play this season unless the Patriots were to release him, which is unlikely. His injury is undisclosed.
In the offseason, Hill signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the Patriots, and the deal includes $7.5 million fully guaranteed and a $4.2 million signing bonus. The Patriots were counting on him to replace Austin Hooper, who left for the Falcons in free agency.
Instead, third-round rookie Eli Raridon will have a bigger opportunity.
Hill, 25, spent the past three seasons with the Dolphins, playing mostly as a blocking tight end. In 45 games he has 33 catches for 288 yards.
