- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,148,323
- Reaction score
- 59
FOXBOROUGH, Mass — It's no secret that the New England Patriots would like to keep Christian Gonzalez around long-term. And with that, the star cornerback has made it clear he also wants to stay with the organization.
But contract negotiations remain ongoing, and that brought into question whether Gonzalez would attend mandatory minicamp.
The answer: yes.... sort of.
Head coach Mike Vrabel spoke about the negotiations before practice.
"Good. Conversations have been great," Vrabel said. "I talked to him about his event last week. I talked to him about normal things that we talk about. It is good to have everybody back in here that either was here last week or that was not. It is just good to have an almost complete football team here. I am excited to keep working."
The cornerback was at Patriots practice for the first day after having missed all of OTAs, but only took part in the individual drills as well as the walkthrough. He didn't take any reps during the team drills.
And after practice, he addressed reporters for the first time this offseason regarding his contract status. He said his decision to skip OTAs was because he "felt like I could get my work in. I was able to talk to the coaches, and we talked about it and got some work in." And with that, he decided to attend minicamp because he's "got obligations."
"Of course, I want to be here. I've said this multiple times, I've been drafted here, I want to be rewarded as a Patriot," Gonzalez said. "I love this town, I love this city. So, yeah, of course I want to be here."
As he continued to reiterate when asked about the contract situation, Gonzalez said that it's "up to my agents and the team," but he hopes "we get something done."
There's also been talk that Gonzalez is waiting on Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who is represented by the same agents and is also up for a contract extension.
"No, other than just talking to [Witherspoon], that's my guy," he said. "We came up together, same (draft) class. That's my guy. We talked a couple days ago, we talked a good amount, but not even about contract stuff, we just talked checking in on each other, see how each other are doing, and just catching up."
So, does he want to reset the market at cornerback?
"That's another question that is between my agents and the Patriots and that team and what they value me at," he replied, and was asked if he values himself that way. "As I said, it's between the two sides."
And, after only taking part in some of the practice, does he plan to participate in training camp?
"Training camp, I'm not worried about that, we're in mandatory minicamp right now," he said. "So that's what we're focused on, this week and today."
But the biggest question is whether he intends to play on his current contract if a deal can't get done.
"We've got a long time until the season," he replied. "We're still pretty early in the off-season. I'm focused on being here, showing, being here for the team, doing my role and what I'm here for this weekend, and focused on that."
Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: What Mike Vrabel, Christian Gonzalez said about ongoing contract talks
Continue reading...
But contract negotiations remain ongoing, and that brought into question whether Gonzalez would attend mandatory minicamp.
The answer: yes.... sort of.
Head coach Mike Vrabel spoke about the negotiations before practice.
"Good. Conversations have been great," Vrabel said. "I talked to him about his event last week. I talked to him about normal things that we talk about. It is good to have everybody back in here that either was here last week or that was not. It is just good to have an almost complete football team here. I am excited to keep working."
The cornerback was at Patriots practice for the first day after having missed all of OTAs, but only took part in the individual drills as well as the walkthrough. He didn't take any reps during the team drills.
And after practice, he addressed reporters for the first time this offseason regarding his contract status. He said his decision to skip OTAs was because he "felt like I could get my work in. I was able to talk to the coaches, and we talked about it and got some work in." And with that, he decided to attend minicamp because he's "got obligations."
"Of course, I want to be here. I've said this multiple times, I've been drafted here, I want to be rewarded as a Patriot," Gonzalez said. "I love this town, I love this city. So, yeah, of course I want to be here."
As he continued to reiterate when asked about the contract situation, Gonzalez said that it's "up to my agents and the team," but he hopes "we get something done."
There's also been talk that Gonzalez is waiting on Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who is represented by the same agents and is also up for a contract extension.
"No, other than just talking to [Witherspoon], that's my guy," he said. "We came up together, same (draft) class. That's my guy. We talked a couple days ago, we talked a good amount, but not even about contract stuff, we just talked checking in on each other, see how each other are doing, and just catching up."
So, does he want to reset the market at cornerback?
"That's another question that is between my agents and the Patriots and that team and what they value me at," he replied, and was asked if he values himself that way. "As I said, it's between the two sides."
And, after only taking part in some of the practice, does he plan to participate in training camp?
"Training camp, I'm not worried about that, we're in mandatory minicamp right now," he said. "So that's what we're focused on, this week and today."
But the biggest question is whether he intends to play on his current contract if a deal can't get done.
"We've got a long time until the season," he replied. "We're still pretty early in the off-season. I'm focused on being here, showing, being here for the team, doing my role and what I'm here for this weekend, and focused on that."
Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: What Mike Vrabel, Christian Gonzalez said about ongoing contract talks
Continue reading...
