The Seahawks’ weekend agreement with Devon Witherspoon quickly sent ripples beyond Seattle, but Mike Vrabel isn’t ready to lump Christian Gonzalez into the same bucket.
That’s the part Patriots fans immediately zeroed in on: Gonzalez is also due for a new deal, and Witherspoon’s extension looked, at first glance, like the kind of move that could help set the market. But Vrabel pushed back on the idea that the situations are automatically connected.
“Everything is pretty unique to itself,” Vrabel said. “Whether that’s negotiations, players, the play that we’re running - certainly those are unique and individual situations.
We’ll try to focus on Christian’s and I know he’ll focus on his own situation. We’ll continue to work through that and he’ll continue to try to improve and try to get back out on the field.”
Gonzalez hasn’t practiced for the last week, and the Patriots have said that’s because of a physical issue. His status has naturally drawn more attention now that Witherspoon, his fellow corner and shared-agent client, has a new contract in hand.
Even with that connection, Vrabel made it clear he sees the Patriots’ cornerback situation as its own case, not a simple follow-the-leader scenario. Gonzalez and Witherspoon may both end up near the top of the cornerback pay scale, but that doesn’t mean the timing or path will be the same.
For now, Gonzalez is still working his way back while the Patriots get ready for their Week 1 trip to Seattle to face Witherspoon and the Seahawks.
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Seahawks Suddenly Face A Running Back Decision They Didnt Expect
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Hankerson entered the league with Miami as an undrafted free agent, but his path has already looped back through Seattle once, and now he is back on the radar as the Seahawks get ready for upcoming practices and games. For a team trying to keep its backfield functional while the injury situation settles, the tryout was less about long-term planning than about whether a known option can help in the short term. [Read more 🡒]