The players have spoken. Christian Gonzalez is officially the New England Patriots' third player to crack the league's top-100 player list, making a 56-spot jump from last season's No. 84 to reach the upper echelon at No. 28.
Gonzalez joined two newcomers (Kevin Byard III, No. 61, and A.J. Brown, No. 80) on the list after anchoring Mike Vrabel's secondary en route to the franchise's first Super Bowl trip of the post-Tom Brady era.
While that's more of a popularity contest than a scientific or stats-based ranking, this should only put even more pressure on the front office to stop messing around and give their rising star a well-deserved contract extension.
The Patriots are playing a dangerous game with Christian Gonzalez
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport just reported that the Patriots may not give Gonzalez an extension this offseason. He's still under contract for two more years, so technically, they can wait until 2027 to get a deal done.
Gonzalez, a 2023 first-round pick, is about to enter the fourth-year of his four-year, $15.1 million contract. Per Spotrac, he's slated to make roughly $2.5 million in 2026, with the team picking up his $18.1 million fifth-year option.
However, there's no point in delaying the inevitable. Gonzalez is due to reset the cornerback market at some point, so they might as well get him signed now before the number goes even higher. If they're truly committed to him, this should've been a no-brainer months ago.
Gonzalez and Seattle Seahawks star Devon Witherspoon are represented by the same agency. Likewise, his fellow 2023 classmate is in a staring contest with his team to get his due, and while both have shown up to practice, the lack of progress on these talks might only sever their relationship with the team.
Gonzalez's camp will ultimately use Witherspoon's deal as a baseline for their own negotiations, so the Patriots are shooting themselves in the foot by waiting to get this deal done while they can get him on a cheaper contract.
From a football perspective, there's no reason to doubt Gonzalez is worth every penny that's about to come his way.
He missed three games in the regular season, but he allowed a league-worst 43.3 percent completion percentage as the primary defender, 4.7 yards allowed per target (also a league-best), and helped punch the team's Super Bowl ticket with a clutch pick in the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos.
The league already knows Gonzalez is the real deal, and there will be no shortage of potential suitors if the Patriots don't want to do right by him. The players have spoken, and it's up to the decision-makers to get a deal done now.
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