Patriots 2026-27 Off Season

[Csfan1984]

I am one of those Pats fans that feels Gonzalez is over-rated. He is probably top ten CB in the league but I wouldn't put him top five. He just doesn't make big plays compared to some of the other guys. He lacks the extra awareness to get picks which also leads to getting burned on three or four plays a game. He has had maybe three full lock down games over three seasons. I can understand why it's hard to look at a guy like this and not make his contract incentive based. If I'm the Kraft's I let him prove it this year if he doesnt agrees to an incentive based contract.

[Vermont Green]

I am one of those Pats fans that feels Gonzalez is over-rated. He is probably top ten CB in the league but I wouldn't put him top five. He just doesn't make big plays compared to some of the other guys. He lacks the extra awareness to get picks which also leads to getting burned on three or four plays a game. He has had maybe three full lock down games over three seasons. I can understand why it's hard to look at a guy like this and not make his contract incentive based. If I'm the Kraft's I let him prove it this year if he doesnt agrees to an incentive based contract.

I am not sure the issue is that Gonzalez is overrated, he may be, I don't know.  I think what is overrated is the whole concept of the lock down corner.  There really is no such thing.  I think Gonzalez is a top corner.  I can't say for sure if that means top 3 or 5 or 10, but he is good.  But how much difference is there really between the 3rd best and the 7th best?  How many more pass completions does team give up if the best corner is 7th best vs. 3rd best.  It would depend a lot more on the other DBs and really the entire defense (pass rush) than just the one corner.

I have no idea what the hold up is.  Seems he should get a little more than Witherspoon.  I don't why either side of the negotiation should be looking for anything much different.  This all makes me think one side or the other is looking for something unreasonable.  Could be either side or a little bit of both.

[Ilikesports17]

I am one of those Pats fans that feels Gonzalez is over-rated. He is probably top ten CB in the league but I wouldn't put him top five. He just doesn't make big plays compared to some of the other guys. He lacks the extra awareness to get picks which also leads to getting burned on three or four plays a game. He has had maybe three full lock down games over three seasons. I can understand why it's hard to look at a guy like this and not make his contract incentive based. If I'm the Kraft's I let him prove it this year if he doesnt agrees to an incentive based contract.

I am not sure the issue is that Gonzalez is overrated, he may be, I don't know.  I think what is overrated is the whole concept of the lock down corner.  There really is no such thing.  I think Gonzalez is a top corner.  I can't say for sure if that means top 3 or 5 or 10, but he is good.  But how much difference is there really between the 3rd best and the 7th best?  How many more pass completions does team give up if the best corner is 7th best vs. 3rd best.  It would depend a lot more on the other DBs and really the entire defense (pass rush) than just the one corner.

I have no idea what the hold up is.  Seems he should get a little more than Witherspoon.  I don't why either side of the negotiation should be looking for anything much different.  This all makes me think one side or the other is looking for something unreasonable.  Could be either side or a little bit of both.

I agree. I think Gonzalez is probably the 2nd best corner in the league but he's not erasing receivers like the true shut down corners of the '00s and even '10s

[SparzWizard]

Former NFL analytics staffer Ryan Paganetti says he reviewed more than a decade of Patriots home broadcasts and found ?dozens? of examples where the video board behind the uprights displayed a reversed view of the kick, creating a second set of yellow goalposts directly behind the real ones.

The result was an optical illusion that could make opposing kickers see what looked like four yellow uprights instead of two. And when wind was a factor, the flags on the actual goalposts could be blowing one way while those shown on the video board appeared to be blowing in the opposite direction.

But here's the best part for Patriots fans: Paganetti also reviewed 52 New England field-goal attempts from those games and says the illusion appeared exactly zero times when the Patriots were kicking. He described the tactic as ?diabolically clever? and said it perfectly represented the Patriots dynasty?s obsession with finding every possible competitive edge.

Here comes Illusion-gate with a potential fine on Robert Kraft, suspending Drake Maye and Tom Brady, and loss of draft picks. Haters be thinking "Always somethin fishy going on in Foxboro"

[Phantom255x]

BOOM. Gonzalez extension done according to Shultz + Rap

[SparzWizard]

Nice! Now us Pats fans can sleep better just in time for the season to start on Wednesday

[Roy H.]

The New England Patriots and star cornerback Christian Gonzalez have agreed to terms on a record-setting, four-year, $135 million extension, sources told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler late Monday night.

The deal includes $102 million guaranteed, sources said.

It makes Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, passing the four-year, $132 million extension that Devon Witherspoon agreed to with the Seattle Seahawks last month, one that included more than $101 million in guaranteed money. Both players share the same agent, Reggie Johnson.

Can Gonzalez back out when he realizes that Witherspoon is still making more after taxes?  lol.

[Vermont Green]

The New England Patriots and star cornerback Christian Gonzalez have agreed to terms on a record-setting, four-year, $135 million extension, sources told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler late Monday night.

The deal includes $102 million guaranteed, sources said.

It makes Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, passing the four-year, $132 million extension that Devon Witherspoon agreed to with the Seattle Seahawks last month, one that included more than $101 million in guaranteed money. Both players share the same agent, Reggie Johnson.

Can Gonzalez back out when he realizes that Witherspoon is still making more after taxes?  lol.

Why was that so hard, take so long?

Anyway, now of course they have to focus on the season.  Last season, they lost game 1 to the Raiders, the worst team in the league (at home no less), squeaked by MIA, and then fell apart vs. PIT in game 3.  Now they start the season at the defending champs.  I hope they are ready.  Last season it was pretty clear they were not ready for the start of the season.  It will be tougher to recover from a slow start this season.