Player Signing OFFICIAL - Gonzo signed to extension

[jimnance]

He being paid like he's the best in his position, now he needs to play that way.

That's what he's been doing since day 1.
Where have  you been?

 

[Grogan14]

Well at that point, unlike Bledsoe's 10 year contract, few QBs wanted to be locked in for 10 years at the same salary - and of course you needed that much time to get to $100 million given that top tier QBs were making $10 mill a season then.

Really funny in hindsight that as soon as Bledsoe signed that contract Brady was making his move - but again, like all the other players, you see 4 year contracts - not 10 years like Bledsoe, which was a huge outlier in length and value at the time.

It took almost 25 years to get a second 100M contract and not one of those contract extensions was for the GOAT?

Whoever said Kraft is cheap can apologize now

 

[slash83]

 

[Huckleberry1]

He got spot on what most PF posters were expecting. Slightly more than Witherspoon.

There's no reason they shouldn't have sealed this deal long ago - it will be interesting to hear later which side might have been holding this up because a contract like that isn't a shocker to anyone.

The reason it took so long was that instead of Witherspoon's guarantee by a million or so, which was how the prior deals had been made, Seattle gave him 9 million more in guaranteed $$$. The Patriots argument was that the Witherspoon contract is an outlier, which it is, and ended up splitting the difference.

I wanted Gonzalez signed, and I wanted them to pay him the most, but the Patriots had a valid argument that the Witherspoon deal wasn't representative of the overall CB market as a whole. That's why it went down to the wire.

It's the same in any sport. If owners are paying the best at a position consistent with the other best players at that position, one nutbag owner throwing absurd money at one player doesn't necessarily reset the market at that position.

 

[Milton Quagmire]

Is Schefter full of ****?! -Quags​

Schefter: Patriots considered pulling their contract offer to Christian Gonzalez​

"This was not a simple deal to get done; we heard on August 25th, Christian Gonzalez complain about the offer."​

Schefter: Patriots considered pulling their contract offer to Christian Gonzalez

According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the New England Patriots nearly pulled their offer to Christian Gonzalez before he signed.

www.boston.com

Edit: replaced full text of copyrighted article with a link to the original

 

[scott99]

Who cares what ****fer says. Deal is done, there is ZERO reasons (pardon the pun) for any negativity. Right now, anyone being negative about Gonzalez signing is a moron who wants more drama.

 

[goheels22002]

Do we know anything about the final year of the contract - the 2029-2030 season? That's always the most important year - the cap hit, under whose control, etc. That will affect some of the upcoming deals - Drake Maye's in particular. I'm glad this Gonzalez one is a four-year deal and not longer. These numbers are getting absurd, but I guess NFL football is such a cash machine that it works out.

 

[Gumby]

Now that there's a general celebration that he's in the fold, I found this stat eye-popping in terms of who we've retained:

Opposing quarterbacks completed just 38.8 percent of their passes when targeting Gonzalez — the lowest rate allowed by any defender facing at least 25 targets during the postseason since 2018.

To put that in context, remember that Diggs had an 85% completion rate - obviously against guys other than Gonzo!

Of course the only way we'll face Diggs and see who is better at their jobs is if we meet Washington in the SB so I'll pull for that!

This is even more impressive if you could compare the Target Rate. How often did those opposing teams throw against the RCB or at whatever guy Gonzo had on average in other games.
I bet you would find……Gonzo is an ERASER. He has capability to take someone’s best asset out of the equation.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

I personally think Schefter is FOS, but who cares.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Do we know anything about the final year of the contract - the 2029-2030 season?

Gonzo finishes the 4th and 5th year on his existing rookie contract, before starting his new 4 year extension. Or at least that is what has been posted on PatsFans. I am not an NFL contract rules guy. If true, the last contract year is 2032 - 2033.

I hope Maye's contract is for 10 years.

 

[Gumby]

Is Schefter full of ****?! -Quags​

Schefter: Patriots considered pulling their contract offer to Christian Gonzalez​

"This was not a simple deal to get done; we heard on August 25th, Christian Gonzalez complain about the offer."​

Christian Gonzalez and the Patriots agreed to a contract extension on Tuesday. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)
By Conor Ryan

Less than 48 hours before the Patriots opened their 2026 season with a primetime matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, New England and star cornerback Christian Gonzalez finally bridged the gap on a record-breaking four-year, $135 million contract extension.

It was a welcome sight for both the Patriots and Gonzalez, who is now the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.

But according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the Patriots — inching closer and closer to the start of the regular season — nearly took that contract offer off the table after months of stalled negotiations.

“It was strained enough at one point that there were conversations in the Patriots organization in recent days about whether or not they should pull the offer,” Schefter said on his podcast with Ty Schmit on Tuesday. “This was not a simple deal to get done; we heard on August 25th, Christian Gonzalez complain about the offer.

​

“But the offer pretty much was the same until the end, when they upped the average per year and basically agreed to the deal while they were in the air.”

Based on Schefter’s reporting, something changed in short order to get these contract negotiations over the finish line — as the longtime NFL insider noted on Monday afternoon that the Patriots and Gonzalez did not show any signs of progress with the start of a new season rapidly approaching.

“These things always can change. But as of right now, talks are nowhere,” Schefter said Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show”. “Again, there always can be a last second push and there always can be something that changes. We’ll see how the two sides address it as the season’s underway.

​

“But I think, as of right now, it’s hard to imagine that the two sides would be able to make up the difference to get a deal done by opening night. Again, we’ve seen crazy things happen, and I’m sure there could be another push to try to see if they could salvage it and get it done. But right now, as of yesterday, I was told it was not close.”

That late push was enough to get Gonzalez to sign on the dotted line, with the Patriots’ All-Pro corner narrowly surpassing Seattle CB Devon Witherspoon in both total contract payout ($135 million to $132 million) and guaranteed money ($102 million to $101 million).

Despite the sudden about-face between Schefter’s reporting and Gonzalez signing with New England, Schefter once again reiterated on Tuesday that circumstances shifted in short order between Gonzalez and the Patriots after arriving on the West Coast Tuesday evening.

“The Patriots’ team flight left, they decided not to pull the offer, which was the right thing to do,” Schefter added on Tuesday. “When you get this close to the season, there’s a little window for everybody to revisit it and to see where the talks go. In the end, the Patriots raised the average price per year to $33.75 million.

​

“That’s where the change on Monday came with the Patriots upping the average price per year to a record number to make Christian Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.”​

I think ****fer was wrong on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday

IT WAS A NEGOTIATION….I can almost guarantee BOTH SIDES GAVE UP SOMETHING
he wants to point fingers and blame one side for click bait at first, then to cover his tracks when he was Wrong, then Wrong Again.
He used to have good sources or integrity, but the cutthroat media-verse appears to be eating his soul.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

IT WAS A NEGOTIATION….I can almost guarantee BOTH SIDES GAVE UP SOMETHING

Gonzo can't give up too much because he wanted to be $1M over the last contract. So it is an atypical negotiation in that Gonzo has little wiggle room to "meet in the middle".

 

[Gumby]

Gonzo can't give up too much because he wanted to be $1M over the last contract. So it is an atypical negotiation in that Gonzo has little wiggle room to "meet in the middle".

There is at least one Twitter mediot who Said up until the Weekend the Agent was asking for $7M more. (I doubt that #, but who ?)
Last week didnt Gonzo say they had the Basic #$s, but were discussing secondary Language.
The more interesting /likely culprit of the Drag out to me was These effective Dates of the guarantees. These read Like some went pats way & some gonzos.

Regardless. Done deal. To morph a famous quote:
All gave some None gave all.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Just be thankful this is not MLB. You guys would lose your minds no matter whose side you're on.

 

[Wozzy]

“But the offer pretty much was the same until the end, when they upped the average per year and basically agreed to the deal while they were in the air.”

​

“That’s where the change on Monday came with the Patriots upping the average price per year to a record number to make Christian Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.”​

Based on this paragraph(s), assuming it’s true, the Patriots were the ones holding up the process.

 

[Clonamery]

I think ****fer was wrong on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday

IT WAS A NEGOTIATION….I can almost guarantee BOTH SIDES GAVE UP SOMETHING
he wants to point fingers and blame one side for click bait at first, then to cover his tracks when he was Wrong, then Wrong Again.
He used to have good sources or integrity, but the cutthroat media-verse appears to be eating his soul.

His sources are mainly Agents so you know where it came from.

 

[rkarp1]

from Reiss' account, the Pats were very aggressive early. it was the Gonzo camp that slow walked things.
the Pats also saw the Witherspoon deal as an outlier for guaranteed money for a CB (rightfully so)
the concessions appear to be the next season guarantee's appear to be very early...the 5th day of the season before.
also, 2030 and 2031 are not guaranteed, with a dead cap hit in '30 of $6.6m, and a dead cap hit of $0 in '31.

as long as Gonzo remains a stud, this is a very fair deal for both sides, and gives Gonzo another bite at free agency/3rd contract before he is 30 years old

 

[rkarp1]

fwiw...not only have the Pats/Krafts made Gonzo the highest paid CB in NFL history, they have done similar for
OG-Mankins
DT-Wilfork
QB-Bledsoe...and most likely Maye
TE-Gronk
CB-Revis

 

[patchick]

from Reiss' account, the Pats were very aggressive early. it was the Gonzo camp that slow walked things.
the Pats also saw the Witherspoon deal as an outlier for guaranteed money for a CB (rightfully so)
the concessions appear to be the next season guarantee's appear to be very early...the 5th day of the season before.
also, 2030 and 2031 are not guaranteed, with a dead cap hit in '30 of $6.6m, and a dead cap hit of $0 in '31.

as long as Gonzo remains a stud, this is a very fair deal for both sides, and gives Gonzo another bite at free agency/3rd contract before he is 30 years old

I’m confident that the team wanted to get this done and didn’t set out to nickel and dime the player. Because Gonzo is a major asset, on and off the field: a bona fide game changer who is also young, good-looking and a major draw for an audience the NFL is eagerly courting. (Go to Gillette sometime and check out the number of young Latino fans in Gonzalez jerseys.)

This deal was complicated and difficult. That doesn’t have to be somebody’s fault. And now it’s done.

 

[Clonamery]

I’m confident that the team wanted to get this done and didn’t set out to nickel and dime the player. Because Gonzo is a major asset, on and off the field: a bona fide game changer who is also young, good-looking and a major draw for an audience the NFL is eagerly courting. (Go to Gillette sometime and check out the number of young Latino fans in Gonzalez jerseys.)

This deal was complicated and difficult. That doesn’t have to be somebody’s fault. And now it’s done.

Timing of it gains some weight from the team/FO not wanting is distraction/story going into an opening night countrywide game.