Overview
- Patriots executive Eliot Wolf said during the preseason broadcast on Saturday that negotiations with Gonzalez remain active and both sides are working to reach a deal.
- Gonzalez has not practiced since sustaining an undisclosed training‑camp injury on August 10 and missed the team’s two most recent preseason games while rehabbing.
- Seattle corner Devon Witherspoon’s four‑year, $132 million extension has established a new financial benchmark and pushed guaranteed‑money demands higher for elite corners.
- New England exercised Gonzalez’s fifth‑year option earlier this year, which keeps him under team control through 2027 and reduces short‑term urgency for the club.
- Because Gonzalez and Witherspoon share an agent and Gonzalez reportedly seeks to out‑earn that benchmark, guarantees and contract construction remain the central sticking points and could push a final deal into 2027.