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Apparently, the New England Patriots are extremely serious about locking down Christian Gonzalez for the long haul.
“We love Christian Gonzalez. We love him as a player and as a person. That’s why we’ve given him an offer that makes him the highest-paid player ever to play that position in the NFL and happens to be the highest contract in Patriots franchise history,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Saturday when asked about Gonzalez’s training camp, according to the team’s extension camp.
“So we’re happy we drafted him and he’s developed here and we hope he’ll be with us for a long time.”
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said contract negotiations with Gonzalez were “ongoing” Friday. The contract to beat for an NFL cornerback in both total money and average annual value is Trent McDuffie’s four-year, $124 million deal with the Los Angeles Rams ($31 million AAV), which also included a record $100 million guaranteed for a cornerback.
Meanwhile, the contract to beat in Patriots history in both total money and average annual value is defensive tackle Milton Williams’ four-year, $104 million deal ($26 million AAV), which he signed with the franchise in March 2025.
As for Gonzalez, the soon-to-be fourth-year cornerback is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he earned his first career Pro Bowl nod, totaling 10 passes defensed, 69 combined tackles and just one missed tackle across 14 regular-season games, according to Pro Football Focus; he missed three games due to a hamstring injury.
Then, across New England’s four postseason games, Gonzalez totaled an NFL-high seven passes defensed in the postseason and hauled in an ultimate game-sealing interception against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter.
The year before (2024), Gonzalez threw two interceptions and recorded 11 passes defensed, which came after his 2023 rookie campaign was cut short after four games due to a shoulder injury. New England selected Gonzalez with the 17th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Oregon.
