The Patriots are clearly over the moon about the deal they brokered to bring A.J. Brown to Foxboro from Philadelphia.
Could they extend a smidge of that enthusiasm towards a guy they drafted, who’s also a superstar, in Christian Gonzalez?
Over the course of 20 hours, the Patriots’ social media team shared 11 Instagram posts celebrating their new wideout – before he ever even stepped on a practice field. They posted 13 times on X, proclaiming, “He’s here and he’s perfect.”
Meanwhile, the one guy they’ve drafted since Tom Brady’s departure who is up for a market-setting contract extension and actually showed up in Super Bowl 60 remains at an apparent impasse with the organization.
“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,” head coach Mike Vrabel said before Tuesday’s voluntary practice, which was attended by Brown, but not Gonzalez.
Vrabel shared that he “would imagine” Gonzalez will be in attendance next week during mandatory minicamp. That should suggest optimism that the two sides are at least negotiating within the same realm of dollar signs, and nobody is straight up playing hardball. Gonzalez was a happy participant in quarterback Drake Maye’s celebrity charity softball game Sunday at Polar Park. Following the announcement of his new teammate, he also shared on social media that Brown will attend his own charity basketball game this weekend.
So, what’s the hold-up that’s leading to this hold out? Gonzalez is likely going after an extension that will pay him at least slightly more than Trent McDuffie, who signed a 4-year, $124 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams, with $100 million guaranteed. McDuffie set the market, and now Gonzalez, an All-Pro and Pro Bowl player, will try to best that as time drags on.
The question isn’t just whether the Patriots will pay him more than McDuffie’s annual average value or opt for higher guaranteed money, but whether Gonzalez is playing his own waiting game with fellow cornerback Devin Witherspoon. Witherspoon, Seattle’s 2023 first-round pick, is also up for an extension and shares an agent with Gonzalez. Whoever blinks first may miss the chance to negotiate even more money with their respective team. So, it’s not all on the Patriots’ shoulders, but it is the first time they’ll have a non-special team draft pick looking to set the market at a position since Rob Gronkowski earned his own record-breaking extension in 2012. We’re talking 14 years here.
New England is well-positioned to pay Gonzalez. Star quarterback Drake Maye remains on his rookie contract and they were able to free up a healthy amount of cash and cap space when they moved on from receiver Stefon Diggs and restructured Mike Onwenu’s contract last week. Brown is a big acquisition, but more because of the draft picks cost to get him, than his actual hit on the team’s payroll and cap space. His cap hit for the next two seasons is only about $18 million total.
Meanwhile, the Patriots have to be eager to get Gonzalez active in minicamp and training camp. They can’t afford for their star cornerback to suffer a soft tissue injury like he did to begin last season, especially with a Super Bowl rematch out of the gate.
Both sides appear to want to get this deal done. The Patriots proved they’re open for business right now, so they should handle it.
