Christian Gonzalez had high expectations for the offseason. After spending his whole life working through the various stages of his sports journey, he expected the 2026 offseason to reach a new level in terms of his compensation. However, Robert Kraft hasn’t offered him a deal that meets his expectations. As such, the cornerback has been skipping practice in protest.
Mike Vrabel, who has gone viral for his opinions on how players need to act, spoke about the cornerback’s decision to skip practice. According to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald in a Monday post on X, Vrabel hinted at expectations that the cornerback has been working independently “to try to improve.”
Thanks for the submission!
•
“We’ll continue to work through that, and he’ll continue to try to improve and try to get back out on the field,” he said.
Looking to predict NFL playoff Scenarios? Try our NFL Playoff Predictor for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!
The statement either pulled back the curtain to reveal that Gonzalez was training and practicing on his own or pressured the cornerback to be doing so even if he was not practicing. Either way, with the season around the corner, the pressure is set to rise on both Kraft and Gonzalez to get a deal done.
New breakout deal challenges Robert Kraft’s assessment of Christian Gonzalez offer
Via a July 25 post on X from ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Robert Kraft assessed the offer he made to Christian Gonzalez to be “the highest paid player to ever play that position.” However, in the wake of Devon Witherspoon’s breakout $132 million deal, that claim may or may not still be accurate.
Before Witherspoon’s deal, the next highest was Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie’s $124 million deal. Based on Kraft’s assessment, the deal was worth at least $1 more than that amount. However, unless it was $8,000,001 more than that deal, Kraft’s assessment is already obsolete.
As such, the offer might have aged poorly in just the month since it was placed on the table. It wasn’t enough before, and all signs point to it not being enough now. The next major question is whether Kraft will place his hands deeper in his pockets than he already has in response to Witherspoon’s new deal.
The future of the Patriots backfield could depend on it.
Edited by Ian Van Roy