Deadlines spur action.
The Patriots and cornerback Christian Gonzalez [agreed to a four-year, $135 million contract extension](https://x.com/Schultz_Report/status/2097186159709319645) with $102 million guaranteed late Monday night, Jordan Schultz first reported.
The deal makes Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history and the highest-paid player in Patriots history.
Gonzalez was first eligible to sign a contract extension in March. He recently expressed frustration that a deal had not been completed.
The Patriots play the Seahawks on Wednesday night in Seattle. The team traveled out west earlier on Monday, and Gonzalez made the trip. He had not previously confirmed in interviews that he would play Week 1 without an extension.
This now ensures that Gonzalez will be in uniform at Lumen Field for the NFL season opener against the Seahawks. The contest is a rematch of Super Bowl LX, which the Patriots lost, but Gonzalez fared well against Seahawks star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, holding the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year to just four catches on 10 targets for 27 yards.
Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who shares an agent with Gonzalez, was previously the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback. He signed a four-year, $132 million deal with $101 million in guarantees and $59 million fully guaranteed last month.
Witherspoon’s deal averages $33 million per year. Gonzalez’s APY is $750,000 more at $33.75 million. The fully guaranteed money in Gonzalez’s deal has yet to be reported.
The Patriots selected Gonzalez 17th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Oregon. Patriots ownership had been roundly criticized in media circles for their seeming unwillingness to pay Gonzalez. This deal proves that it truly is a new era in New England, with the Patriots paying top dollar to sign Milton Williams last offseason and now trading for A.J. Brown and extending Christian Gonzalez in one offseason.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft said on the first day of training camp that the Patriots had extended Gonzalez an offer that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback. Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said last month that the Patriots’ offer would still make Gonzalez the highest-paid cornerback even after Witherspoon signed his deal.
Next up for a new deal is quarterback Drake Maye, who becomes extension-eligible next March.