FOXBORO, Mass. — There was the metaphor, right overhead.
Just past 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, a helicopter descended while Christian Gonzalez took questions from reporters a few hundred yards from its landing pad. The Patriots had just finished their final training camp practice of the summer. Gonzalez was still in uniform, a full participant for a second straight day.
On the field, life was good.
But off the field, even a few steps beyond one end zone of the main practice field, where Gonzalez stood, or a few dozen paces past the other end zone, noise. Whirring, constant, interrupting noise.
Whether Robert Kraft was aboard the helicopter, had called for it to whisk him somewhere else or was sipping cocktails on the Cape doesn’t matter. Gonzalez was forced to wait on the Kraftcopter, and so were we.
This waiting game has been the story of the summer in Foxboro, where Gonzalez admitted Tuesday he’s not a happy camper when asked directly if, indeed, he’s frustrated about the lack of a contract extension after months of talks.
“It’s frustrating,” he said, “but I’m focused on the season. I’m focused on here now.”
Gonzalez did the same deflection dance for most of his press conference, just like Eliot Wolf three hours earlier, albeit with much more grace than the 44-year-old executive. Gonzalez did have one telling hiccup, however.
Does he feel the Patriots have held up their end of the bargain by not negotiating through the media?
A long pause. Then, he muttered …
“I don’t know.”
Of course he doesn’t feel that way. How could he?
On Day 1 of training camp, Kraft took a BB gun, fired one shot at his foot and another that seemed to knock the goodwill out of negotiations when he volunteered to the media that the Patriots had already offered Gonzalez the richest contract ever for an NFL cornerback and any player in their franchise’s history. Kraft meant to take aim at a common critique about his ownership’s spending. How cheap he allegedly is, or was, considering the Patriots have ranked in the top 10 of guaranteed free-agent dollars spent in two of the last three offseasons, matching their pair of top-10 finishes in the last 10 years of the Bill Belichick era, per Spotrac.
But in firing indirectly at talking heads and all those who worship at the whiny altar of talk radio, Kraft unloaded some friendly fire at Gonzalez, whom he had just painted as the bad guy in these negotiations. The star corner didn’t like that.
“I don’t sense Gonzalez loved that (comment) all that much,” ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler reported this month. “So, there’s been some back and forth.”
“If cooler heads can prevail here,” NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport said of the negotiations, “I would imagine it can get done pretty quickly.”
Since Kraft’s comments, two other players have reset the cornerback market with new deals. Since then, local reports about Gonzalez’s supposed demands have leaked. Since then, several other 2023 first-round picks have signed extensions.
And since then, as of early Tuesday afternoon, Wolf joined the parade of Patriots behind a podium during his annual summer press conference. For the most part, Wolf declined all contract-related questions. But as with Gonzalez, there was one exception.
“I’m confident we’re continuing to work on (an extension), and we’re positive that we’re making momentum,” he said.
OK, so what does momentum mean?
“Again, I’m not going to get into the negotiations here today,” Wolf responded. “We are working with Christian’s representative to try to get something done, and that’s what we are doing.”
At least he stopped there, I guess.
I would love to know, or even believe, the two sides are closer. Because, frankly, I feel tired of waiting.
The Patriots cannot bungle this. Trading Kayshon Boutte for second-year safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round fart in the draft wind freed up a few million bucks in cap and cash for this season. Put all of that toward Gonzalez, who is set on, among other things, Year 1 earnings with this new deal, sources confirmed.
There is too much at stake for these negotiations to fall apart. The Patriots won’t be Super Bowl contenders this year or for the foreseeable future without Gonzalez, and their offseason was nothing if not an exercise in win-now team-building. Gonzalez cannot cash in on a giant payday unless he plays often enough this season and accrues another year toward free agency. He will suit up, extension or no extension.
I have wondered most of this summer why Gonzalez has played ball with the Patriots. It hit me Tuesday when, after two weeks of missed practices, all the talking points about his professionalism and selflessness felt like they were cracking, much like Gonzalez’s unbothered facade during that press conference.
My sense is Gonzalez has practiced because he knows he has to play. The NFL’s bylaws eliminated player holdouts as an effective negotiating tactic years ago. Holding in would come with an expiration date of right about now. So since Gonzalez plans to play Week 1 in Seattle, he needs to practice first, and he’s done just that.
As the old saying goes: if it’s inevitable, make it immediate.
Gonzalez is doing that.
The Patriots would be wise to do the same.