FOXBOROUGH, Mass — Christian Gonzalez made one thing very clear regarding his ongoing contract negotiations with the New England Patriots.
And that's that he plans to keep it out of the media.
But while it has been a big topic of discussion, it was further thrown into the public eye when Patriots owner Robert Kraft told reporters on the first day of training camp that the team had extended an offer to Gonzalez that would make him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL and the highest-paid player in franchise history.
“Everybody knows what Mr. Kraft has done, a ton of respect for Mr. Kraft and what he’s done with this franchise,” Gonzalez said. “And it’s just something we don’t want to handle in the media. You know, I keep that with the team and my
team and go on about that.”
So, did Gonzalez feel pressured by Kraft after his public comments?
“I’m assuming that’s going to be a lot of this,” Gonzalez replied. “But anything with that, you know, I keep that between my team, my agents, and the team and the front office and let them deal with that.”
He was also asked if it bothered him, but maintained the same answer over and over again. And he reiterated that he'll keep things "between my team and my office" when asked if he wants to be the highest-paid cornerback in the league.
There's a lot of speculation that Gonzalez's contract extension is contingent on Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who is also up for a contract extension and is represented by the same agents as Gonzalez.
“I mean, Spoon’s my guy,” Gonzalez said. “We work out all the time together. I respect Spoon, an amazing player, but I feel like it’s kind of like what I said - keep that between my team and the front office.”
Yet, while he doesn't have a new deal, Gonzalez has been a full participant during training camp, which is a change from the spring and early summer when the cornerback decided not to participate in competitive drills. So far, training camp has consisted of non-padded practices, but on Thursday, the pads are set to come on, which brings into question whether Gonzalez plans to continue his full participation.
“I’ll be out here,” Gonzalez said.
And with that, is he hopeful a deal will get done?
"I hope so," he stated.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Christian Gonzalez addresses Robert Kraft's public contract remarks
