Mike Vrabel has ‘never even considered’ Christian Gonzalez missing Week 1

The ongoing contract negotiations between the Patriots and Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez have been one of, if not the biggest, storylines of the offseason.

Gonzalez, who is entering his fourth season with the Patriots after being selected 17th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, is extension-eligible for the first time in his career. He had been a full participant in training camp before missing Tuesday’s joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts.

Although none of the starters played, he also wasn’t in uniform with Drake Maye, A.J. Brown, Milton Williams and several other key players, or out for pregame warm-ups ahead of Thursday’s preseason opener.

Appearing on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said the 24-year-old’s absence had nothing to do with his contract situation.

“Literally just working through something,” the coach said. “Just like a couple of other guys that didn’t participate [in Tuesday’s joint practice] or didn’t participate in the game. So, we’ll try to get those guys back as quickly as possible and go from there.”

Among the other players not dressed on Thursday night were Christian Barmore, Christian Elliss, Charles Woods, Julian Ashby, Harold Landry, Brenden Schooler and Kyle Dixon.

Gonzalez landed hard while covering Romeo Doubs during Monday’s practice, so perhaps that had something to do with his absence. Maybe taking that hit was enough to make Gonzalez realize the danger of risking injury while he’s still trying to get a contract extension done with the Patriots.

On the first day of training camp, Robert Kraft revealed the Patriots had already made Gonzalez an offer that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback. That title currently belongs to Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, who signed a two-year, $62.2 million contract extension with Cleveland in late July that includes $52.3 million guaranteed.

Kraft also said the offer would be the highest contract in Patriots franchise history, though he didn’t reveal any specifics, including the length of the deal or how much money would be guaranteed.

As of now, the largest contract in Patriots history belongs to Milton Williams, who signed a four-year, $104 million deal ($26 million annually) with $63 million guaranteed in March 2025.

On Tuesday afternoon, Gonzalez seemed to hint at those ongoing talks when he posted an Instagram story featuring the song lyric, “Should have been done by now.”

The 24-year-old is set to earn a base salary of roughly $2.26 million this season. While it’s unclear whether Gonzalez will play under his current deal, Vrabel made it clear that the expectation is that he will play once he’s healthy.

“My expectation is that everybody that’s healthy and ready to play for us is going to play,” Vrabel said. “I’ve never even considered anything other than that.”

It’s also worth keeping an eye on the situation in Seattle, as Gonzalez shares the same agent as Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who entered the league in the same draft class and is also in line for a lucrative extension.