{"id":823293,"date":"2026-08-23T16:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/823293\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T16:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:12:08","slug":"eliot-wolf-on-christian-gonzalez-each-side-is-trying-to-do-whats-right-for-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/823293\/","title":{"rendered":"Eliot Wolf on Christian Gonzalez: “Each side is trying to do what’s right for them”"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Falcons signed running back Bijan Robinson to a new contract, the Lions and running back Jahmyr Gibbs used the Robinson deal as the template for quickly getting their own contract done. When the Seahawks signed cornerback Devon Witherspoon to a new contract, it seemed that the same thing would happen for both the Patriots and cornerback Christian Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

Eight days later, it hasn\u2019t happened \u2014 even though Witherspoon and Gonzalez are represented by the same firm.<\/p>\n

During Saturday\u2019s preseason game between the Patriots and Eagles, New England executive V.P. of football operations Eliot Wolf addressed the lingering impasse.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach side is trying to do what\u2019s right for them<\/a>,\u201d Wolf said on the game broadcast, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. \u201cChristian is a tremendous player that we\u2019ve been on record multiple times saying we want him to be here, and that hasn\u2019t changed. We\u2019re going to continue working with his representation to try to get something done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzalez hasn\u2019t practiced since August 10. The Patriots say he\u2019s injured. Maybe he is. The circumstances invite speculation that, if it\u2019s an injury, it\u2019s something he\u2019d possibly be practicing through if he had the security that comes from a long-term second contract.<\/p>\n

Obviously, it\u2019s turning out not to be as simple as taking Witherspoon\u2019s deal, which pushed the new-money APY to $33 million per year, and changing the numbers in order to get Gonzalez to, say, $34 million annually.<\/p>\n

From the team\u2019s perspective, Gonzalez is under contract through 2027, thanks to his fifth-year option. From the player\u2019s perspective, Gonzalez wants to replace the $20.378 million he\u2019s due to earn under the balance of his rookie deal with something that sets a new bar for the cornerback market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Falcons signed running back Bijan Robinson to a new contract, the Lions and running back Jahmyr…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-823293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}