That was always common sense, the % of the cap talk and and ridiculous stories about Gonzalez wanting 40m a year was always Patriots PR spin.
No position outside of quarterback is ever going to truly reset anything, everyone knows what it's going to cost it's just the Witherspoon deal with another few mill tacked on.
The Patriots don't want to pay the money and if they think they're going to get the full Christian Gonzalez i think they're kidding themselves, he can loaf around and someone will still pay him the market value next season it'll be the Patriots losing out on the real player this season and draft capital will go down.
If they don't think he's worth the Witherspoon money they've made up their minds and should just move him now because this deal is never getting done.