Curran: "In my estimation... [Gonzo would like to] be treated as if he's at the table in 2027." [previous title: "say goodbye to gonzo"]

[rochrist]

Meanwhile, the team we're playing on Wednesday:

Devon Witherspoon (CB): Agreed to a four-year, $132 million contract extension in August 2026, making him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history with $101 million guaranteed. [1, 2]

---

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR): Signed a four-year, $168.6 million extension in March 2026 (averaging $42.15 million annually) after the team exercised his fifth-year option. [1, 2, 3]

Leonard Williams signed a three-year, $90 million contract extension with the Seattle Seahawks in August 2026, keeping him under contract through the 2029 season. [1, 2]

Left tackle Charles Cross signed a four-year, $104.4 million contract extension in January 2026, tying him to the franchise through the 2030 season. [1, 2, 3]

Next year the Seahawks have to sign Sam Darnold and Byron Murphy and a bunch of other players.

Or look at what the Rams have done.

 

[Huckleberry1]

nobody’s making excuses and nobody wants your “sympathy.” You can play games with clauses, imaginary money, guaranteed money, escalators, whatever, but at the end of the day, each cap dollar can only be spent once. Kraft doesn’t make a single extra dollar by giving a handful of linebackers, say, another $2m per year by holding the line on superstar spend. But by doing that, we build the depth that the team has announced is our weakness.

Gonzo & his people are smart. They know that you mischaracterizing this as ownership greed adds pressure. You’re doing your part for one individual.

I’m a New England Patriots fan, not a crypto-hater or a Gonzalez cultist pretending to be a NE fan.

I’d be mad if Kraft pocketed the difference between the ask and what the team pays. He doesn’t. He doesn’t behave in the way you suggest. Look up the price of a soda at Foxborough vs. other stadiums. It’s half the price that you pay in a lot of them.

But hey, if slander is your purpose without regard to reality. You do you.

The if-then you offer is promising. Research whether the Patriots spend to the cap, and whether there are other signs of the owner avarice you suggest. THEN, if you find that NE is truly cheap, I guess now you have discovered why they only went to the AFCCG sometimes instead of winning the SB like they did 6 times in 20 years.

I’m really sorry that, As is unlikely, Christian Gonzalez might not be able to work with the team.

If he’s a team-wrecker, though, it’s not tragedy but farce.

Like I said, look into it. Is Kraft cheap, or just cheap if you’re a fantasy football poster child?

In NE, for the super talented, they don’t ask for a horrible deal for players but they ask for restraint. At that level it’s about pride. You don’t get to make that pride the be-all end-all in NE.

You clearly have reading comprehension issues.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Again, if you spend to the cap, it doesn't cost you less to avoid the megacontracts in favor of a large number of middle-class "depth" contracts. You also need the cheap contracts, meaning the great draft picks. But whether you make them honor their rookie deals or not, if you spend to the cap, Bob Kraft doesn't get to walk around thinking "I'm rich! I'm rich!" because he pays less to one player, if he is just going to use it on another player.

Given that he's spending to the cap every year, your quarrel is with the CBA, not this specific front office.

Not true at all.
Spending to the cap is not guaranteed money, not even close. Many dollars to the cap never actually get paid out.
Cash Spending, which is actual cash paid out is the true indicator of how much cash actually leaves the owners pocket.
In the last 10 years the Pats are dead last in Cash Spending, 32 of 32 teams.
They have spent $300 million less in the last decade compared to the top spending team, $300 miliion!
Spin it anyway you like, Kraft doesn't like to part with his cash, the last decade is verified proof of that.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Just because the Patriots don't drastically reset the market with their top players doesn't make them cheap.

Never mind the fact that... NFL OWNERS DON'T GET TO KEEP LEFTOVER SALARY CAP MONEY. This ain't other leagues. The salary cap is allocated and tracked by the NFL.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Just because the Patriots don't drastically reset the market with their top players doesn't make them cheap.

Never mind the fact that... NFL OWNERS DON'T GET TO KEEP LEFTOVER SALARY CAP MONEY. This ain't other leagues. The salary cap is allocated and tracked by the NFL.

No it doesn't make them cheap.
Spending less cash (actual real money) than any other NFL team makes them cheap, or at best the cheapest team in the NFL over the last decade.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

The Patriots should have never signed players like Davis and Landry, nor traded a first rounder for AJ Brown, if they carry this kind of posture toward their players (when no other teams do). It makes absolutely no sense to give away premium draft picks for an older player, or a ton of cash for older players, and you let your younger All-Pros walk.

That's classic mismangement right there. Very Jet-sy.

If we weren't prepared to give Gonzalez money up front, why in the world did we trade a first for AJ Brown? This team is going nowhere without Gonzalez.

Omg. You really believe that there’s no point in acquiring any other player if they negotiate with a cornerback while he’s under contract, rather than writing a blank check before he’s in his contract year? Just wow. All that matters is one player. A cornerback at that.

 

[slash83]

It’s not your money relax bud.

Omg. You really believe that there’s no point in acquiring any other player if they negotiate with a cornerback while he’s under contract, rather than writing a blank check before he’s in his contract year? Just wow. All that matters is one player. A cornerback at that.

 

[Ring 6]

This a very one sided stance.
As stated multiple times by multiple posters, NFL teams cut players all the time.
By definition they don't honour the contract they committed to.
But players are obligated to fulfill their contract when they vastly over perform?
And, you could also ask what the Pats are gaining to "get out of his current deal".
They are gaining signing him now, before the market escalates next year which it undoubtedly will.
They are also gaining the advantage of a fully committed Gonzo, and a message to the team that if you play well and conduct yourself professionally off the field, you will be rewarded.
This is not an outlier, this is the norm for high performing rookies, they negotiate and sign extensions when they can as determined by the CBA. before their current deals expires.
Teams do this, pretty much every team does this.
The Pats not doing it isn't the rule, it's the exception.

The contract are signed with the understanding that you can be released if you don’t perform. And yes players are obligated, unless they want to not play
In return they get signing bonuses that they keep no matter what.
There are many layers to this, it’s not as simplistic as that.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Not true at all.
Spending to the cap is not guaranteed money, not even close. Many dollars to the cap never actually get paid out.
Cash Spending, which is actual cash paid out is the true indicator of how much cash actually leaves the owners pocket.
In the last 10 years the Pats are dead last in Cash Spending, 32 of 32 teams.
They have spent $300 million less in the last decade compared to the top spending team, $300 miliion!
Spin it anyway you like, Kraft doesn't like to part with his cash, the last decade is verified proof of that.

Spending to the cap in a given year means that your obligations that year are the max amount you can amass, I don’t know how to make it simpler for you. That’s not going into someone’s pocket. That’s going to the player, whether as salary, as a make good on previous overspending allowed, for example, because it’s a pro-rated bonus, etc.

 

[Ring 6]

Again, if you spend to the cap, it doesn't cost you less to avoid the megacontracts in favor of a large number of middle-class "depth" contracts. You also need the cheap contracts, meaning the great draft picks. But whether you make them honor their rookie deals or not, if you spend to the cap, Bob Kraft doesn't get to walk around thinking "I'm rich! I'm rich!" because he pays less to one player, if he is just going to use it on another player.

Given that he's spending to the cap every year, your quarrel is with the CBA, not this specific front office.

This is not true. Cap is not crash. Salary is paid today and counts toward the cap today. Bonus is paid today and counts toward the cap over time.

 

[Hyped]

The middle class guys earning a huge chuck of money with the Patriots are not force multipliers the way Gonzalez is. We can replace Davis and Landry's output. We can't replace Gonzalez's.

We would have OLB/DE depth with Landry out and CB depth if we traded Gonzo. Middle class players are worth their weight in gold over a grinding NFL season.

 

[Ring 6]

Just because the Patriots don't drastically reset the market with their top players doesn't make them cheap.

Never mind the fact that... NFL OWNERS DON'T GET TO KEEP LEFTOVER SALARY CAP MONEY. This ain't other leagues. The salary cap is allocated and tracked by the NFL.

Of course they do.
First if they don’t spend it by definition they kept it and secondly they can toll it forward to the next year.
The salary cap is an accounting process.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Nothing is simple in NFL contracts.
One overwhelming truth is NFL teams sign players to contracts that aren't fully honoured all the time.
Obv the main reason this happens is because they team doesn't believe the player's production is now worth the salary they are contractually due.
That is their right under the CBA, players can be released.
That same CBA allows players to sign extensions before their current contracts expire. This happens all the time for players that are high performers and are vastly outperforming their pay.

 

[Hyped]

Not true at all.
Spending to the cap is not guaranteed money, not even close. Many dollars to the cap never actually get paid out.
Cash Spending, which is actual cash paid out is the true indicator of how much cash actually leaves the owners pocket.
In the last 10 years the Pats are dead last in Cash Spending, 32 of 32 teams.
They have spent $300 million less in the last decade compared to the top spending team, $300 miliion!
Spin it anyway you like, Kraft doesn't like to part with his cash, the last decade is verified proof of that.

Cap dollars get spent. Dead money on cap = Money previously paid out to a player no longer on the roster.

The difference between cash and cap spending is simply TIMING.

Ask Kraft and I am sure he will tell you he spends an average of 300 million a year on players.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Spending to the cap in a given year means that your obligations that year are the max amount you can amass, I don’t know how to make it simpler for you. That’s not going into someone’s pocket. That’s going to the player, whether as salary, as a make good on previous overspending allowed, for example, because it’s a pro-rated bonus, etc.

The Pats rank dead last in cash spending over the last decade.
Dead last.
They have spent $300 million less than the Eagles in the that span.
I don't know how to make that simpler for you.

 

[Real fan 02]

Or look at what the Rams have done.

You make a good point. However the rams are relying on a 30 something year old QB, a 30 something year old Garrett all be it sensational and a 30 something year old Donald that came out of retirement. What are the chances either makes it through a 17 game season..

 

[n1997y]

That agent has signed players with other teams, including Witherspoon.

He has also negotiated a contract for another player with the Patriots this season.

Jacas.

Remember how smoothly his contract went?

 

[Triumph]

Apparentlty the concept of a player being unwilling to negotiate during the season is foreign to you even though it's happend HUNDREDS OF TIMES BEFORE.

So, Gonzo refuses to sign a contract that would pay him and his agent.

You have been blasting Kraft and smoking Gonzos pole all this time.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

You make a good point. However the rams are relying on a 30 something year old QB, a 30 something year old Garrett all be it sensational and a 30 something year old Donald that came out of retirement. What are the chances either makes it through a 17 game season..

Garrett played all 17 games the last 2 years and he's only missed 2 games in the last 5 years.
I don't think health is a question with him.
Stafford is a legitimate injury risk with his age and bad back, however he had those same concerns last year and played 17 games.
Donald is definitely a question mark not having played for 2 years, but he is an actual freak show of a human being.

 

[upstater1]

He has also negotiated a contract for another player with the Patriots this season.

Jacas.

Remember how smoothly his contract went?

Word was the Patriots introduced an injury clause for a preexisting injury