Looking at the Patriots 2026 - Iron Sharpens Iron

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signbabybrady said:
Red Sox and Celtics getting rich not paying their guys Kraft will probably follow them.
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He literally cannot afford to. They hit rock bottom during the Jerod Mayo season. Another year of that and people were going to turn away. Also (and I am grateful for this), he actually loves his team and hates to lose. He has his warts like anyone else, but he has always cared.

By contrast, John Henry is a businessman, not a Red Sox fan.
 
TommyD420 said:
They have a pretty clear track record. Not the Celtics owners, yet, the last ones actually spent money.
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They previous Celtics ownership, led by Wyc Grousbeck, had become by far the best ownership group among the 4 before they sold the team.

John Henry has descended into Jeremy Jacobs territory where their primary concern is simply that people show up to their venues, regardless of the teams' records.
 
3 Point Stan said:
Yes. If for nothing else than to make it look like he was willing to pay guys all along.

Brady was a woobie who carried the team on his back for about 15 of his 20 years here. You don’t get that luxury twice in one lifetime. He will pay two players top dollar with Vrabel as HC.
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IF AJ Brown has a good year, he will also want to be paid for 2027. That's 3 players making big money. The total would be somewhere around $130M/ for 3 players.
43% of the salary cap for 3 players is not an easy decision.
 
chevss454 said:
IF AJ Brown has a good year, he will also want to be paid for 2027. That's 3 players making big money. The total would be somewhere around $130M/ for 3 players.
43% of the salary cap for 3 players is not an easy decision.
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But that position is not unique to the Patriots, it's something all teams are faced with. If you're telling me that the Patriots might not sign Gonzo to a top tier contract because AJ Brown "could have a really good year and then demand to be paid more than you intended," I'd argue that's the wrong approach to running a football team.

I believe you're just playing devil's advocate to highlight how difficult these decisions can be but to me, this one is not all that difficult at all.
 
3 Point Stan said:
But that position is not unique to the Patriots, it's something all teams are faced with. If you're telling me that the Patriots might not sign Gonzo to a top tier contract because AJ Brown "could have a really good year and then demand to be paid more than you intended," I'd argue that's the wrong approach to running a football team.

I believe you're just playing devil's advocate to highlight how difficult these decisions can be but to me, this one is not all that difficult at all.
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Well played.

I agree it's the wrong approach.
Nevertheless, it's something the FO and Kraft have to consider.
Incorporated into this consideration is which position is more easily replaced with a rookie through the draft to save money.
The Patriots have done pretty well drafting good CBs; not so well drafting good WRs. That includes Wolf's 2024 draft for WRs with Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, both busts.
Unfortunately, we really don't know if Wolf & Co. can identify good CBs.
 
chevss454 said:
Well played.

I agree it's the wrong approach.
Nevertheless, it's something the FO and Kraft have to consider.
Incorporated into this consideration is which position is more easily replaced with a rookie through the draft to save money.
The Patriots have done pretty well drafting good CBs; not so well drafting good WRs. That includes Wolf's 2024 draft for WRs with Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, both busts.
Unfortunately, we really don't know if Wolf & Co. can identify good CBs.
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This is definitely fact, but no team has top tier talent at QB, Edge, WR, CB, and OT. The Patriots have players who are firmly in the "elite" category under their control at two of those positions.

They've done a pretty good job at patching together a WR corps for 2 consecutive seasons, and they'd only be shuffling this process around to other positions if they pivot from Gonzo and invest elsewhere. Seems exhausting and a gamble. Go with what you know you have. It already yielded a Conference Championship.
 
QBs, Pass rushers, and Tackles are worth top money. That’s it.
WR is easily the most overvalued/overpaid position in the NFL.
 
3 Point Stan said:
This is definitely fact, but no team has top tier talent at QB, Edge, WR, CB, and OT. The Patriots have players who are firmly in the "elite" category under their control at two of those positions.

They've done a pretty good job at patching together a WR corps for 2 consecutive seasons, and they'd only be shuffling this process around to other positions if they pivot from Gonzo and invest elsewhere. Seems exhausting and a gamble. Go with what you know you have. It already yielded a Conference Championship.
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I'm sure they'd love to have him. The issue is the price. How high does he want and how high will the Pats go is the issue. Is there a mutually agreeable middle ground?
 
rivshark86 said:
QBs, Pass rushers, and Tackles are worth top money. That’s it.
WR is easily the most overvalued/overpaid position in the NFL.
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I agree that WR's are the most overrated of this group but CB's are right up there with edge and OT's.
 
chevss454 said:
I'm sure they'd love to have him. The issue is the price. How high does he want and how high will the Pats go is the issue. Is there a mutually agreeable middle ground?
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If the cap ceiling continues to increase as it has the last 4 seasons, even at $35 mill per year, there is relief with each subsequent year. But I do imagine every single contract negotiation starts with feeling out the middle ground, especially when you're talking potential to make a player the highest played player at his position ever.
 
rivshark86 said:
QBs, Pass rushers, and Tackles are worth top money. That’s it.
WR is easily the most overvalued/overpaid position in the NFL.
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They are also the key To a QBs success. I wonder why we saw a massive improvement from Maye last year . I will believe the stats, Facts & ranking over your opinion. Targeting value WR’s only effective when it’s productive.
 
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3 Point Stan said:
If the cap ceiling continues to increase as it has the last 4 seasons, even at $35 mill per year, there is relief with each subsequent year. But I do imagine every single contract negotiation starts with feeling out the middle ground, especially when you're talking potential to make a player the highest played player at his position ever.
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Gonzalez and Witherspoon have the same agent, Reggie Johnson. They're both looking for their 2nd contracts. Whoever signs last will get the most money.
Johnson is handling the negotiations, playing 1 player off the other. That's his job.

At the moment, Trent McDuffie’s $31 million per year is the top of the market, and Gonzalez is sure to exceed that number.
The Pats exercised his fifth-year option in April, '26. It is worth $18.119 million, which currently projects as the 22nd-highest cap hit for a cornerback in 2027. He won't play for
that next year.

I hope a 4 or 5 year contract for a total of no more than $30M/year with a sizable 'game played' incentive and other incentives already built in along with a sizable chunk guaranteed will get the deal done. (He's missed 17 games over his first 3 years due to injury. The Pats need some protection bc of that.)

Spotrac gives Gonzo a base valuation of $28,274,509 per year.

www.spotrac.com

Christian Gonzalez Contract, Salary & Cap Hit 2026 | Spotrac

Christian Gonzalez signed a 4 year, $15,102,868 contract with the New England Patriots with an average annual salary of $3,775,717.
www.spotrac.com www.spotrac.com
 
chevss454 said:
IF AJ Brown has a good year, he will also want to be paid for 2027. That's 3 players making big money. The total would be somewhere around $130M/ for 3 players.
43% of the salary cap for 3 players is not an easy decision.
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Meh. Gonzo is to build around. Brown is here to try to capitalize on a window.
 
Thuney is the only patriot I can link of in 7 years or so that should have been retained, but wasn’t.
There’s a lot of talk about Kraft being cheap, but it’s hard to point to many recent examples of talent not being retained recently outside of Thuney.
 
rivshark86 said:
Thuney is the only patriot I can link of in 7 years or so that should have been retained, but wasn’t.
There’s a lot of talk about Kraft being cheap, but it’s hard to point to many recent examples of talent not being retained recently outside of Thuney.
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Bill's poor drafts the last 4-5 yrs of his time year has a lot to do with that. It wasn't all Bill though. Caserio and Wolf were responsible for 3 of those years.
 
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