FOXBOROUGH, Mass — New England Patriots safety Kevin Byard III was very outspoken during the past few weeks, making his beliefs surrounding Christian Gonzalez's contract negotiations clear.
The captain knew the cornerback deserved to get paid.
The deal officially happened ahead of the team's season opener, with Gonzalez receiving a four-year, $135 million contract extension, making him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.
And with that, Byard knew his teammate got exactly what he deserved.
"I was super excited," he told Patriots Wire on Wednesday. "When you have a player of his caliber, these things should always line up in my opinion. Like, when you talk about these record-breaking contracts, I think there's always a few guys who are always deserving,
but I think he's obviously cornerback number one. And so when you are that type of player, you are that type of person for this organization; you deserve to get paid. So I'm just more happy to see that everything kind of lined up the way it should always line up."
Byard has not been shy, calling Gonzalez the "best corner in the league," adding that he's "the best player I've ever played with as far as the corner position."
And it was heartwarming to Gonzalez, whose locker sits right next to Byard, to have the captain's support through that entire process.
"I know those are my guys and I know they'e going to be there, especially in the back end," Gonzalez previously told Patriots Wire. "We're together so much. So he's a great player, a great vet. Excited to be out there with him."
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Kevin Byard wanted Christian Gonzalez to get paid, and he got his wish
