NFL Trade Rumors
According to Ian Rapoport, the Patriots and CB Christian Gonzalez have been in negotiations for a new contract, but his deal is being held up by Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon‘s impending deal.
Rapoport points out that Gonzalez and Witherspoon are represented by the same agent. He mentions that Witherspoon is “further along” in negotiations and that Seattle has made an offer around $30 million annually.
Rapoport adds that Witherspoon is expected to get done first, with Gonzalez to follow once the market is set.
Back in May, Brady Henderson reported that Seattle made an initial contract offer to Witherspoon several weeks prior. However, Henderson said at the time that the two sides don’t feel like they are close to agreeing on a deal any time soon.
Henderson adds Witherspoon has been at voluntary OTAs and had the option to attend Phase 1 remotely but chose to come in person. He still has two years remaining on his rookie deal and there are two months until training camp, so Henderson notes the significant gap shouldn’t be a huge concern yet.
Witherspoon, 25, was a three-year starter at Illinois and was named a consensus All-American and first-team All-Big 10 following his senior season.
The Seahawks selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and signed Witherspoon to a four-year, $31,861,152 deal through 2026 with a $20,171,748 signing bonus. He’s scheduled to make a base salary of $1,145,000 in 2026 and carry a cap number of $10,137,639.
In 2025, Witherspoon appeared in 12 games for the Seahawks and recorded 72 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one interception, one fumble recovery and seven passes defended.
Patriots VP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf recently said the team’s top priority is to extend QB Drake Maye** and Gonzalez, adding that the team’s free-agent spending over the past couple of seasons isn’t a sustainable model for building.
“That’s our No. 1 priority,” Wolf said, via Patriots Wire. “Obviously we have other priorities, but that’s our No. 1 priority and I think it just gives you some advantages, especially as we were kind of restocking in free agency last year, we spent the most money in the league, and then again this year when we kind of went heavy again. That’s not necessarily sustainable, especially when we have guys like [Christian] Gonzalez and Drake coming down the pipe here. But having that now gives us the flexibility in these, call it the next two years, to be able to do something like this.”
Patriots insider Greg Bedard spoke on Gonzalez’s contract situation on a recent episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast. He doesn’t expect a deal to get done before training camp and feels both sides are okay taking this into August.
“So what I have heard is that I would not expect any sort of update until training camp,” Bedard said. *“And if that’s the case, I think that’s where the Patriots are. I think they sort of like shrug and...
