Christian Gonzalez is trying to keep his head down, but he's not pretending the contract situation doesn't bother him. Adam Schefter relayed via Mike Reiss that the Patriots' star corner is disappointed the two sides haven't landed on an extension with the regular season bearing down fast.
CB Christian Gonzalez and the Patriots continue to discuss a contract extension, and with the regular-season opener closing in, Gonzalez expressed disappointment that the sides have yet to reach an agreement. Story via @MikeReiss: t.co/pULB1x0yJt
Gonzalez put it bluntly to reporters: "It's frustrating, but I'm focused on the season. I'm focused on here now." Asked whether he's optimistic a deal gets done, he didn't sound eager to bet on it. "I'm focused on Week 1 at this point. I mean, it's been all offseason, so I feel like the line of today is, 'It is what it is.'" That's not exactly a guy who thinks this wraps up any minute now.
The backdrop here matters. Gonzalez, the Patriots' first-round pick in 2023, is eligible for his first extension this offseason, and owner Robert Kraft made noise at the start of training camp saying the team had put an offer on the table that would make Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in football. Eliot Wolf has since backed that up, saying the offer still stands and that talks have picked up momentum. But momentum and a signed deal are two different things, and Gonzalez is still walking into camp without one.
Part of what's driving the number is Seattle's Devon Witherspoon, who signed a 4-year, $132 million extension with $101 million guaranteed that reset the cornerback market this offseason. Gonzalez, by most accounts a better player already at a younger age, is going to want at least that — and the Patriots know it. That's likely part of why this is dragging: nobody wants to be the guy who signs for less than the going rate at the position.
The timing adds a layer of irony. New England opens the season on September 9 against Seattle — the same Seahawks team that beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LX this past February, and the same team that just paid market rate to keep its own top corner. Wolf has said he doesn't view that game as a deadline for the negotiations, but it's hard not to see it that way from the outside. If Gonzalez lines up across from Witherspoon in Week 1 still unsigned, that storyline writes itself.
For now, Gonzalez says the right things about staying locked in on football. But "it is what it is" isn't the kind of quote a team wants from its best young defensive player two weeks before kickoff. The Patriots have made a competitive offer, at least publicly — the question is whether they close it before the games start counting.