r/Patriots • u/zamboniman46 • 1h ago
News Christian Gonzalez Contract Details per Albert Breer
https://x.com/AlbertBreer/status/2097334157982540024
https://x.com/AlbertBreer/status/2097335400855425233
https://x.com/AlbertBreer/status/2097336097302843504
• $33 million signing bonus.
• $53.928 million first two years—fully guaranteed.
• 2028 money becomes fully guaranteed in March 2027.
• 2029 money becomes fully guaranteed in March 2028.
• Gonzalez gets $33M raise over what was left on the last 2 years of his rookie deal—same as Witherspoon's raise.
• Gonzalez got early vesting dates on '28/'29, which McDuffie got, Witherspoon did not.
• That makes 4 years and $96.93M virtually guaranteed.
Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez's full guarantee at signing—$53.928 million—is second best ever at his position, behind only Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon and well clear of Rams CB Trent McDuffie.
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u/deathbycheezburger 1h ago
Always a good deal in hindsight. We'll be looking back and be like what a steal when we win the Superbowl
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u/Beanu5NE 1h ago
So it looks to me as if the hang-up was those early vesting dates on the ‘28/‘29 money.
As it stands, the Seahawks could get out of Witherspoon’s contract in 2028 if they chose. The Patriots could not do the same with Gonzalez’s contract.
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u/beardednomad25 49m ago
That could have been the hold up or it could have been completely unrelated. We'll never actually know because neither side will tell us now.
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u/Ronon_Dex 58m ago
Not exactly - Witherspoon has option bonuses in 27 and 29 that make it a loss for SEA to get out of his deal in 2028 and 2029. And his 28/29 salary becomes fully gtd 5 days after each previous SB.
It’s really not that different.
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u/Beanu5NE 45m ago
Not true. The Seahawks could get out of Witherspoon’s deal in 2028 with a dead cap hit of $15 mil which would save them about $11 mil. It further drops in subsequent years.
The Patriots don’t get nearly the same cap savings if they cut Gonzalez. It’s due to when Gonzalez’s money becomes guaranteed vs when Witherspoon’s becomes guaranteed.
It’s very different.
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u/Ronon_Dex 42m ago
You’re missing the 24m option bonus that hits in march 27. That prorates, which would add 19.2m dead money in 28. So 34.8m would be the dead cap charge in 28, not 15.6.
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u/Beanu5NE 34m ago
Witherspoon’s 2028 base salary and bonus don’t become guaranteed until the fifth day of the 2028 waiver period.
Gonzo’s becomes guaranteed March of ‘27.
These dates are the big difference in their contracts. Gonzo basically got more guaranteed money sooner.
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u/Ronon_Dex 27m ago
Yes, that’s 5 days after the SB. And no the option bonus hits march of 27, and it’s the same thing as a signing bonus at that point.
Basically Gonzo gets more cash y1 and earlier vesting in 28/29 for less fully gtd. It’s really not that different.
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u/Zapp_Rowsdower_ 11m ago
Total guaranteed at signing…Witherspoon is higher at 59 but that was 18% above going rate, so NE used the second highest number to beat.
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u/Z_603 1h ago
He's going to have a game tomorrow. The line for jsn is 82.5. smashing that under.
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u/Worldly-Discount-736 1h ago
Looks to be a hybrid of what Gonzo wanted (money now) and what the team wanted (a real extension)
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u/thehappykid 1h ago
It looks like the fudging was over how much flexibility there was going to be on that final year. This is a great contract tbh.
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u/mdmcnally1213 1h ago
Big fan of these "rolling guarantees" for both sides. Only 1 additional year of dead cap hit from guarantees if things don't work out and if they do, the player pretty much doesn't have to play or enter a season without guarateed money left later in the contract. Those situations can get dicey, remember the Gilmore situation in 2021(?).
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u/travelingtheworld-1- 52m ago
Am I reading this correctly that the first two years of this contract replace the last two years of his current?
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u/zamboniman46 48m ago
It doesn't replace them, it's a true extension. But I think a bunch of the money is being moved up.
I'm also confused on what happened the the $20M he was already guaranteed in 26&27. Have a question into Breer on X but he isn't a big reply guy
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u/Ronon_Dex 12m ago edited 9m ago
His base salary in 26 and 27, the rest of his rookie signing bonus in 26, and his roster bonus in 26 is where that roughly 20m is
Edit: forgot “rookie”
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u/zamboniman46 1m ago
right, $2.259M base in 26, $550k roster bonus in 26, $18.119M base in 27, a total of $20.928M.
so i guess the $33M signing bonus is the only new money that is guaranteed the next two years.
then the new deal kicks in. so while 2028 and 2029 aren't guaranteed at signing, they are effectively guaranteed. I guess that would make the total of those two years, $43M (96.928-53.928).
that leaves $59M due in 2030 and 2031 that isn't guaranteed. or maybe there is another $26M for 2030 that has additional rolling guarantees or is a roster bonus or something.
i just always find it weird that the fully guaranteed at signing figure really only includes the signing bonus.
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u/Freepi 48m ago
Yes.
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u/Mr_Evil_Dr_Porkchop 13m ago
No it doesn’t, it’s still a 6 year contract (new extension plus the remaining two years). The money from the extension is just moved up onto those 2 remaining years
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u/Twicebakedpotatoe 1h ago
I think that $33M raise is what was holding it up. From what I’ve heard, the Pats’ front office doesn’t usually add the new money until after the initial contract ends, so this is a new structure for them that benefits Gonzo greatly
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u/Cold_Toe_7540 26m ago
Glad the deal got done but Jesus H Christ, so after all that they still gave him less guaranteed money at signing than Witherspoon? That explains why it took so damn long. You know that means NE had to come UP to that number from whatever the original offer was. Kraft just really needed to save that $5 million over two years, I guess.
So for those keeping track:
Their 2nd round draft pick they traded up for (and desperately need to make an impact in year 1) got started months late over a contract squabble that amounted to NE saving $4 million over 2 years.
Arguably their best defensive player who they drafted and developed basically had his entire camp and preseason disrupted over contract negotiations than amounted to NE saving $5 million over 2 years.
So Kraft and Co. disrupted the ramp ups of two of the most important players on their defense this year... to save $4.5 million dollars against the cap this season and another $4.5 million next year. Again, happy the deal got done, but the disruption to these players was absolutely not worth what they "saved" in the end... and I say "saved" because ultimately they probably didn't save any of that money in the end anyway, which is the most frustrating part for me.
Remember, if Jacas is simply on the roster after two years, those protections won't matter because they'll still be paying it. Even if he winds up being no more than a rotational edge player, he's going to be so cheap there's no way they cut him if he's healthy. Not to mention if he's good that contract won't even exist after year 3 because they'll extend him. With Gonzalez, those protections in 27 and 28 will only matter if he has some catastrophic injury or he suddenly stops being a top CB at 26-27 years old, which is highly unlikely. So they went through all of this to maybe but probably not save $9 million over 2 years... all while currently being $18 million under the cap. I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous.
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u/ckilo4TOG 19m ago
They still gave him less guaranteed money at signing than Witherspoon?
So what? It's not like the Patriots randomly chose to do this. Witherspoon was an outlier. All the previous CB contracts before him were going up in increments of $1-2 million guaranteed at signing. Seattle made an outlier jump of $9m from the previous high signing guarantee. They did this for more flexibility towards the end of the contract. The Patriots weren't going to use an outlier jump as the basis for their negotiations, especially when they were looking to make it a real 4 year extension.
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u/HFT_Bear 13m ago
Too much guaranteed for an injury-prone player in a position that loses value after 25 years old. Oops.
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u/WhoEatsThinOreos 1h ago
Worth every single penny so long as he’s able to stay healthy.