As the regular season approaches, the Patriots and cornerback Christian Gonzalez still don’t have a new contract in place. And Gonzalez is feeling the burden of the negotiations.
“I mean, it’s frustrating,” Gonzalez told reporters on Tuesday, via Michael Hurley of NBC Sports Boston. “But I mean it’s — I’m focused on the season. I’m focused on here now and doing what I gotta do, and I’m out here to compete and get better.”
Gonzalez also sidestepped the chatter that his recent absence from practice related to his contract talks, which will only reinforce the perception that it was contract related.
“Yeah, you know, I’m not going to get into that,” Gonzalez said. “I’m out here now, so it is what it is. . . . Everything we do is speculating, at the end of the day. I could say something and then it’s still gonna be speculated, so I mean, it is what it is.”
Gonzalez didn’t get into the specifics as to what he wants in a new deal.
“There’s certain things that go into a contract that my team knows what we want, so it kind of depends how you put it,” Gonzalez said.
The reality is that the contract signed 10 days ago by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, which pushed the new-money bar for the position to $33 million per year, should provide the template for Gonzalez’s deal. The fact that the Gonzalez deal still isn’t done shows that it’s not nearly that simple.
Either way, Gonzalez is under contract for two more years. And the real question is whether Gonzalez, who is back at practice, will step away again as Week 1 approaches.
And, frankly, he should. Tuesday’s news regarding CTE underscores the risks of playing football at a high level. All players should do whatever they can to get whatever they deserve. If they don’t get it, they shouldn’t play.
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