Over the last five years, the Patriots have been in an unfamiliar position. They have rapidly declined to the bottom of the league in almost every metric, largely due to the departures of nearly all of their most prolific players during the dynasty era. The biggest impact was felt from the absence of Tom Brady, which also shifted the better part of the team to the defense once again.
That has inevitably made the offense fall behind because of their lack of star power, but even as the defense ascended to the top, there weren't many players who stood out as legitimate threats to opposing offenses, especially after the trades of cornerback Stephon Gilmore and pass rusher Matthew Judon.
That has fortunately changed over the last two years with the rise of CB Christian Gonzalez, Bill Belichick's final first-round selection as part of the Patriots. He impressed as a rookie through the first three games before suffering a season-ending injury and picked up where he left off during the 2024 season, earning Second-Team All-Pro honors to end the year.
With his expected rise to continue this fall, many fans and reporters are already looking ahead to the team extending him beyond his rookie contract far earlier than anyone anticipated, and now they know what that asking price might be when the time comes.
The latest contract to Derek Stingley Jr. means the Patriots will need to throw the bag at Christian Gonzalez next season
Free agency heads into its second week on Monday, and the massive contracts being awarded to great players around the league continue to reset the market for players at every position. That's what happened with the Texans extending cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. with a three-year deal worth up to $90 million.
His contract officially makes him the highest-paid cornerback in league history, resetting the market for all players hoping for an extension in the next few years, including Christian Gonzalez with the Patriots.
Record deal: Texans All-Pro CB Derek Stingley Jr has agreed to a three-year, $90 million extension including $89 million guaranteed. At $30M base value per year, Stingley is now the highest paid defensive back in NFL history. The CB market has been completely reset.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 17, 2025
Deal… pic.twitter.com/g8nzFFFQvj
Mike Vrabel and Co. now know the ballpark number that Gonzalez will likely be looking for when he is eligible to be extended next offseason, and they'll have to pay up if they want to keep him.
It might be presumptuous to suggest he deserves a big payday since he has only completed one season in his NFL career. But if his performance continues to be as stellar as it has been thus far, shutting down the best wide receivers across the league, there's no reason the Patriots wouldn't pay him the money he deserves.
Typically, it would be easy to be pessimistic about this kind of deal getting done in New England because Belichick was not known for handing out contracts of that magnitude. However, based on what we've seen so far from the new regime in free agency, it doesn't appear as though they are reluctant to do so for players they deem worthy, and there's no reason to believe they will treat Gonzalez any differently.
That should be how they approach the situation when the time comes, assuming the cornerback continues to dominate in his role and rises in the ranks in the league.