At New England Patriots practice today, the press asked about the Christian Gonzalez contract extension situation, and the player himself said he was frustrated that a deal hasn’t been done. According to Michael Hurley of NBC Sports Boston, Gonzalez said, “I mean, it’s frustrating, but I mean it’s — I’m focused on the season. I’m focused on here now and doing what I gotta do, and I’m out here to compete and get better.”
The former Oregon standout and Patriots first-round pick just finished the third year of his four-year rookie deal and has been negotiating with the team all offseason. He is one of the best corners in the league and is homegrown talent, so getting a deal done should have been easy. The fact that it’s not begs the question: is it because of the player, the agent, or the team?
Christian Gonzalez Contract Hold-up: The Player
Since January, Gonzalez has watched fellow cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Devon Witherspoon get $30 million dollars a year, and now maybe he wants a similar deal. There’s nothing wrong with that in a sport where contracts aren’t guaranteed. The best players at every position want to raise the bar, and maybe it’s greed, or maybe it’s common sense.
In his 2011 stand-up special, Mr. P, legendary comedian Patrice O’Neal, discussed the bread man raising prices on bread when the cost of oil per barrel goes up. When asked why he was raising his prices, according to O’Neal, the bread man replies, “Listen, the price of bread gone up cuz everybody else raised their s**t. What? We gonna be suckers?”
Gonzalez might not want to be a sucker. The price of cornerbacks is going up, so he’s raising his price too. It’s economics 101.
Christian Gonzalez Contract Hold-up: The Agent
When players want to get paid but don’t want to be the bad guy, the contract negotiations fall on the agent. He’s the guy negotiating the deal, while the player tells media members, “I just want to play football.”
Sometimes that’s a lie, and sometimes it’s actually the case. In baseball, super agent Scott Boras is famous for squeezing every last cent out of owners and GM’s, even to the point that his players admit they would have taken less. That makes sense. He has a job to do, just like the player does, and the agent gets paid to do his job a portion of what the player gets to do his. So, an agent has to be ruthless in negotiations.
CAA Football is the agency that represents Gonzalez, and they also are the one who got Witherspoon the most money ever for a cornerback. They also negotiated Dak Prescott’s $240 million deal, Josh Allen’s $330 million deal, and CeeDee Lamb’s $136 million deal. Their goal is to break the bank with every client on every team, and the Patriots are the next victim.
Christian Gonzalez Contract Hold-up: The Team
Speaking of New England, they have a history of being cheap. It’s no surprise that under the Belichick regime, the Patriots never had the highest-paid player in the league, not even at quarterback, and they had the best one of those ever. Head coach Mike Vrabel is a disciple of football’s Emperor Palpatine, so why wouldn’t he keep a good thing going?
The team did make Milton Williams the highest-paid player in team history with his $104 million deal last March, but he wasn’t the highest-paid at his position. It’s hard to commit a giant portion of a fixed salary cap to one player. That only leaves so much for the other 52. Is it possible the Patriots are refusing to make the best player at a premium position the highest-paid at that position?
It Will All Be Over Soon
The details of how far apart they are have not been leaked. If they were far apart, one side or the other, sometimes both, would leak the details to turn the fans and force a signing. The fact that everyone is still mum means that a deal is imminent. The holdup could be guaranteed dollars or a no-trade clause, but either way, Gonzalez will be signed before the team kicks off its 2026 regular season.
