Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez expresses frustration as contract negotiations linger

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon signed a new contract last week worth $33 million a year. The New England Patriots’ current offer to Christian Gonzalez would top that figure, making him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, Eliot Wolf confirmed Tuesday.

In his first news conference of the summer, the team’s executive vice president of player personnel proclaimed he was “positive” negotiations with Gonzalez were headed in the right direction, referred to the team’s trade of Kayshon Boutte as “the Jaylen Reed trade” and said the move wasn’t the result of frustration from Boutte.

Those were the two big topics of the day. Let’s start with Gonzalez.

The All-Pro cornerback returned to practice Monday after an undisclosed absence, though he didn’t say whether that was because of an injury or tied to his contract. “I’m not going to get into that,” Gonzalez said.

But all eyes remain on his contract status, especially since he acknowledged after practice Tuesday it’s “frustrating” a deal isn’t done.

The Patriots have been negotiating with Gonzalez for months, yet the stalemate continues. Witherspoon, who shares an agent with Gonzalez, completed a record-setting deal with the Seahawks. As the Sept. 9 regular-season opener nears, it remains to be seen when Gonzalez and the Pats will agree on a deal.

“I’m confident we’re continuing to work on it,” Wolf said. “I’m positive that we’re making momentum.”

Wolf didn’t get into whether the Week 1 game serves as a deadline for the two sides, but deals like this often either get done before the first game or wait until after the season. Gonzalez was eligible for a contract extension this spring and has two years remaining on his contract after New England picked up his fifth-year option.

Throughout the saga, an extension always seemed the most likely outcome, especially with the Patriots publicly saying they’d make him the highest-paid cornerback in league history. But with Gonzalez expressing frustration as the opener nears, it’s fair to question how he might handle the season if there’s no deal in place — and whether a lack of an extension could affect his desire to stay.

“I’m focused on Week 1 at this point,” he said. “I mean, it’s been (my focus) all offseason.”

As the negotiations continue and the presumed price tag remains high, it’s also worth noting the Patriots can negotiate a new contract with quarterback Drake Maye next offseason. And if this season goes as planned, that likely will be a record-breaking deal that could approach $70 million per season.

“It’s about a cash budget and things like that,” Wolf said when asked whether Maye’s potential deal would affect Gonzalez’s. “We’re very aware of the timing of these things, and we’re cognizant of having a plan for that and working with (team owners) Jonathan (Kraft) and Robert (Kraft). Thankful for their support, that they’re open and willing for us to be able to sign these great players.”

Sometimes, while negotiating a new contract with a star player, if it looks like a deal isn’t going to be reached, it behooves the team to seek a trade and at least get valuable draft picks in return instead of letting the player walk in free agency, but it doesn’t sound like the Patriots are in a position to be considering that yet.

“I think we’re continuing to work on the negotiation side of Christian, and I think that’s where that stands,” Ryan Cowden, the Patriots’ vice president of player personnel, said Tuesday.

As for trading Boutte, the public sentiment has suggested some surprise that all the Patriots could get in return was a backup safety (Reed) and a seventh-round pick two years from now. If that’s all they got, did the Patriots make the move simply because Boutte wanted out? Wolf suggested that had nothing to do with it.

“For us getting Jaylen in now, he gets an opportunity to work with the defensive coaches. Safety is obviously a tough position to learn. … But no, that didn’t really factor in. Kayshon was very professional throughout the whole offseason and did a nice job for us, and he had a good camp as you guys all saw.”

Wolf said the Patriots were interested in drafting Reed last year, though it’s also fair to note they used their fifth- and sixth-round picks on edge rusher Bradyn Swinson and kicker Andy Borregales before Reed was taken by the Houston Texans.

Still, Wolf expressed optimism Reed would provide much-needed depth and carve out a role as a core special teams player.

“We followed his career last year with Houston and thought it was pretty remarkable that, as a rookie who hadn’t played much during the regular season, they trusted him enough to play the majority of the playoff games,” Wolf said.