What exercising Christian Gonzalez fifth-year option means for the Patriots

Smart business

Anything other than the Patriots signing Gonzalez to an extension over the coming months would be a surprise. However, stranger things have happened in the NFL, and if for some reason no deal is struck heading into the 2027 league year, New England now knows it has the 23-year-old signed on a cost-effective contract. His fifth-year option is worth $18.119 million, which currently projects as the 22nd-highest cap hit for a cornerback in 2027. Needless to say, there are no 21 other cornerbacks better than Gonzalez right now, and that is not expected to change over the next 12 months either.

Stability at cornerback

With Gonzalez tied to the team until March 2028, as mentioned above, the Patriots have their starting cornerback trio under contract for two more seasons. The Pro Bowler and veteran Carlton Davis are both signed through 2027, with slot corner Marcus Jones’ deal running through 2028. All in all, the contract statuses for the entire current 11-man cornerback group look as follows (\*denotes unsigned draft pick, °denotes reported UDFA signing):

• Signed through 2026: Charles Woods, Kindle Vildor, Kobee Minor, Brandon Crossley
• Signed through 2027: Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis III, Marcellas Dial Jr.
• Signed through 2028: Marcus Jones, Channing Canada°, Kenneth Harris°
• Signed through 2029: Karon Prunty\* Fifth-round draft choice Karon Prunty will become the first Patriots defensive back signed through 2029 as soon as he puts his signature under his four-year rookie pact. Of course, a potential Gonzalez extension would probably run beyond that season.

5-for-11

The NFL introduced the fifth-year contract option for first-round draft picks as part of its 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Starting with that year’s draft class and the introduction of the rookie wage scale, teams had the opportunity to exercise the option on all players selected in Round 1. The Patriots have picked 14 first-rounders over the 16 drafts since, including three — Drake Maye, Will Campbell, Caleb Lomu — not yet eligible for the option. Gonzalez, meanwhile, is now the fifth among the 11 remaining to get the extra year added to his rookie pact. The full breakdown looks as follows, with each player’s draft year in parentheses:

• Exercised: OT Nate Solder (2011), ED Chandler Jones (2012), LB Dont’a Hightower (2012), OT Isaiah Wynn (2018), CB Christian Gonzalez (2023)
• Declined/cut/traded: DT Dominique Easley (2014), DT Malcom Brown (2015), RB Sony Michel (2018), WR N’Keal Harry (2019), QB Mac Jones (2021), OL Cole Strange (2022)
• TBD: QB Drake Maye (2024), OT Will Campbell (2025), OT Caleb Lomu (2026) As can be seen, the Patriots hit a dry spell after some initial success. Now, however, they have rebounded and are on a positive run again: Gonzalez was a clear hit in the first round in 2023, with Drake Maye set to either sign a multi-year extension or also get his fifth-year contract exercised next spring.