Despite the Super Bowl loss, the world once again saw Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez on full display. Over 40 coverage reps, Gonzalez was targeted five times, allowing just one catch for 16 yards.
He almost made two of the best plays of the game regardless of team.
Targeting Christian Gonzalez down the field is certainly a choice.
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) February 9, 2026
He has allowed just a 28.6% completion rate when targeted 20+ yards downfield this season 🔒 pic.twitter.com/c7fVFwPVip
For Patriots fans, these plays were old hat. Gonzalez has been making plays like this since he entered the league in 2023. By the start of the 2025 season, he was already being discussed as a top-five corner in the league. This year has only cemented that status.
He led all qualifying cornerbacks (minimum 615 snaps) in catch rate allowed at 43.4%, was fourth in passer rating allowed, and 12th in EPA allowed when targeted at -17.2. With his prototypical size, excellent tackling, and ability to play at a high level in both man and zone, Gonzalez is a defensive coordinator's dream.
Having now completed his third season, Gonzalez is now eligible for a contract extension. And New England would be wise to lock him up now, because the price is only going to go up. What would that contract cost the Patriots? Top of the market money.
And here's why. Contracts, like the real estate market work on comps. So let's find Gonzalez's comps.
Breaking down how the Patriots can approach Christian Gonzalez's contract extension
Three Year Comp
Since entering the league, here are some pertinent metrics for Gonzalez side by side with a similar player:
Player | Coverage Snaps | Interceptions | PBU's | Forced Incompletion Rate | Snaps/Target | QBR Against | yds/cov rep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Gonzalez (2023-2025) | 1,170 | 3 | 16 | 13.04% | 6.4 | 67.6 | 0.87 |
Jaycee Horn (2022-2024) | 1,148 | 4 | 15 | 12.59% | 8.0 | 78.0 | 0.77 |
Gonzalez's significant missed time during his rookie year matches Horn's injury history in terms of playtime.
The two have similar ball production, and while Gonzalez has been targeted more and allowed more yards per coverage rep, he has forced incompletions at a slightly higher rate and allowed a lower QBR.
Two Year Comp
Player | Coverage Snaps | Interceptions | PBU's | Forced Incompletion Rate | Snaps/Target | QBR Against | yds/cov rep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Gonzalez (2024-2025) | 1,043 | 2 | 14 | 13.13% | 6.5 | 67.6 | 0.82 |
Pat Surtain II (2022-2023) | 1,345 | 3 | 16 | 12.03% | 8.5 | 89.6 | 0.83 |
Comparing to Pat Surtain II, Gonzalez has the better forced incompletion rate and lower QBR allowed, while once again getting targeted more. His ball production is also slightly lower.
Platform Year Comp
Player | Coverage Snaps | Interceptions | PBU's | Forced Incompletion Rate | Snaps/Target | QBR Against | yds/cov rep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Gonzalez (2025) | 480 | 0 | 7 | 13.16% | 6.3 | 64.4 | 0.74 |
Pat Surtain II (2023) | 669 | 1 | 9 | 12.36% | 7.5 | 93.9 | 1.05 |
Surtain II again pops up as a close comp, and once again Gonzalez compares favorably across several areas.
Building An APY (Average Per Year)
The fact that Horn, who is currently the 3rd-highest-paid cornerback in the league, and Surtain II, who is 5th (and was the top-paid player at one time), are close comps for Gonzalez shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. They also provide a good starting point for determining Gonzalez's value.
Surtain II signed a four-year, $96 million extension in 2024 when the salary cap was $255.4 million. His $24 million APY was 9.4% of that year's cap. While Horn secured a higher APY of $25 million, it was in 2025. The salary cap that year was $279.2 million. And so his APY was actually a smaller percent of the cap (8.95%).
Using APY as a percentage of cap is useful because it enables apples-to-apples comparisons of contracts across multiple years and salary caps. Using the 8.95%-9.40% range from his two comps and applying it to a projected $305 million salary cap, we can establish a baseline APY of $27.3-28.7 million for Gonzalez.
That would make him the third-highest paid corner in the league.
The Playoff Bump
Narratives influence valuations to some extent. Gonzalez is still very young (he will be just 24 when the 2026 season begins), has first-round pedigree, and is coming off a fantastic playoff run in which he lowered his catch rate allowed to a sub-40 % rate and capped it off with his stellar play in the Super Bowl.
Those factors should allow him to push his APY up $2 - 3 million and help him clear Sauce Gardner for the top-paid player at his position.
Projected Contract Details
Usually, to lock in a top-of-the-market salary, a player has to commit to a longer deal. Garner, Horn, and Surtain all went four years to get their uber deals. But Derek Stingley Jr. convinced Houston to stick with three. Ultimately, I think Gonzalez has to go four.
At four years and $124 million, the Patriots would have Gonzalez under contract for a total of six years, as the deal would include picking up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, which is projected at $11,971,000.
The total effective contract would be six years and $138,780,482 for an effective APY of $23,130,080. The guarantees for a deal like this would be approximately $50 million in full and $90 million total.
It's a lot of money. But he's a lot of cornerback. And his price is most likely going to go up if the Patriots don't act now.