Cornerback · New England Patriots

Christian Gonzalez

No. 0 · 4th season

New England told Gonzalez he'd be the highest-paid corner in the league. He's still thinking.

The New England Patriots haven't had much to celebrate lately. So when they found someone worth building around, they went all in.

Christian Gonzalez plays cornerback — the person whose job, on every single play, is to shadow the other team's best receiver and take away whatever they're trying to do. It is one of the loneliest and hardest jobs in football, and teams that have a great one know it.

The Patriots know it. Owner Robert Kraft said publicly that the team has put an offer on the table that would make Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL — a number that would top the current record, a four-year, $124 million deal held by Trent McDuffie of the Kansas City Chiefs. Kraft called it the highest contract in franchise history. Gonzalez is at training camp. The talks are ongoing.

That offer, coming from a franchise that has spent the last couple of years figuring out what it is again, says something. They see Gonzalez as the answer to at least one of the questions. The money is a statement, not a negotiating floor.

What happens next is up to Gonzalez. He's heard the number. He showed up.

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