As the Patriots continue negotiations with Christian Gonzalez for a very much earned contract extension, the cornerback hasn't missed a practice and has been present for all offseason activities thus far. There was some speculation that he might start a hold-in at the start of training camp if a deal hadn't been reached, but that hasn't been the case so far.
In fact, it didn't look like something anyone needed to worry about ahead of the preseason.
So when Gonzalez was absent for Tuesday's joint practice with the Colts, it certainly raised some eyebrows and even got NFL insider Ian Rapoport talking. Although we have no reason to believe he's now going to hold out, it doesn't appear to be something completely off the table.
But there's also a chance that it's good news, as many Patriots fans took to social media to wonder if this meant he was signing his extension today. It's a possibility even Rapoport considered when he appeared on ESPN Tuesday morning, but he couldn't provide anything concrete to shut down the uptick in concerns.
Much like the rest of us, he did find the timing of Gonzalez's absence to be "interesting," however.
.@RapSheet finds the timing of Christian Gonzalez’s absence “interesting” and is not sure if Gonzalez’s extension gets done this year or next year.
— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) August 11, 2026
“I wanna be a clear, I do not know why Christian Gonzalez was not at practice today. But, it’s interesting to me that yesterday… pic.twitter.com/lUgyqLYu1q
Why it might be interesting is hard to discern from Rapoport, but it's just as difficult not to worry about what this could mean for the immediate and long-term future, especially since the insider specifically mentioned a deal might not get done until next year.
Christian Gonzalez's absence from training camp could become a problem
Based on everything we've heard from Eliot Wolf and more this offseason, it has seemed apparent that getting an extension done with Gonzalez was a priority, even if they might be waiting until the final second to officially get it done.
The Pro Bowler has done everything right to earn the kind of money he's about to be paid, and then some, and the Patriots have every reason to work with much more urgency to ensure that their best player is on the field for Week 1.
The problem is that it hasn't seemed to be the reality in Foxboro over the last few months, and that might result in Gonzalez becoming frustrated, maybe to the point of skipping practice at this stage of training camp.
It would be understandable, given how many other cornerbacks have already received extensions this offseason, many of whom reset the market, and that's what is expected with Gonzalez's new contract, too. And that should motivate the Patriots to get the deal done before Devon Witherspoon, who is also projected to get a hefty new salary.
At this point, it doesn't look like a concern for the Patriots, even though the longer they wait, the more money they will inevitably be on the hook for.
On top of that, the longer the negotiations get pushed out, which Rapoport hinted could be until next year, the more they risk Gonzalez missing practice or worse, and that's not a situation they can afford to be in. We've seen just how important he is to the defense, so not having him on the field would be devastating, particularly in Week 1 against the Seahawks.
Maybe it's premature to get that worried about what's going on, and Gonzalez's absence is nothing to get all up in arms about. But the Patriots' lack of clarity on the situation doesn't help; neither does an insider's ignorance, making it too easy to start thinking about the worst-case scenarios.
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