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GONZO DEAL?? Devon Witherspoon signed... NOW WHAT?? What is the hold up on a potential Christian Gonzalez deal? Gonzo asking for too much? Could Patriots be hesitant due to a looming Drake Maye deal?
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00:00In the NFL, Devin Witherspoon finally signed his contract on Saturday.
00:04Four years, $132 million with $101 million guaranteed.
00:08So you'd think, oh, there's the framework for the Christian Gonzalez contract.
00:12Maybe he wants like 105 or whatever.
00:14This should get it done.
00:15And yet here we stand, still two days later now,
00:18and no information on a deal about Christian Gonzalez.
00:22And I believe the last report from Adam Schefter was that the sides aren't close,
00:27which doesn't really make me feel good about this at all.
00:30I don't understand what the holdup is.
00:32I don't, like, unless Gonzalez is really holding out for some crazy, crazy deal.
00:36I know the number $35 million a year was floated out there.
00:39Like, I don't, I just, I don't understand why this deal doesn't get done
00:44immediately following the Witherspoon deal,
00:47similar to how Bijan and Jameer Gibbs deals got done.
00:52Yeah.
00:52Isn't it exactly what Greg said on Friday?
00:55What's that?
00:55That he wants the percentage moving forward of the salary cap?
01:00I think so.
01:00Yeah.
01:01I think he wants $35 million.
01:03Right.
01:03I think the Patriots are not willing to commit to that to an extent,
01:07to, for an extended period of time.
01:09And I don't believe,
01:11Wiggy said many times it's about the guaranteed money.
01:14Yep.
01:14And I don't believe it's that.
01:16I believe it is the,
01:18his desire to be the highest paid at the position,
01:21not just this season,
01:23but the season after and the season after that.
01:26And there's just no way.
01:27I'm sorry.
01:28If I were Robert Kraft,
01:29there's no way that I would be able to commit to that.
01:32And I certainly wouldn't be able to commit to that if I'm going to be paying
01:38Drake May $62 million in a year or in two years.
01:44Right.
01:44And I'm going to have $100 million tied up in two players.
01:48I can't.
01:48Well,
01:48they can afford that.
01:49Well,
01:49you always say that.
01:50They can.
01:50But it's not,
01:51it's not smart business.
01:53It's just not.
01:53Well,
01:54it's smart business to reward your best people,
01:56but I would say it is not smart business for the reason Christian Gonzalez,
02:01and this was going to be my lead.
02:02So if I could hop right in.
02:03So a great appetizer shine,
02:05but it's also still one meal.
02:08Good call.
02:08Good call.
02:09So I would say the reason Gonzalez is shooting for the moon right now is
02:15because he knows next off season,
02:17the crafts will have the Drake may excuse.
02:19And so they're going to provide whatever the offer is for Drake may will be
02:24the most money guaranteed in NFL history because they have to.
02:29And so Christian Gonzalez can't next off season be like,
02:33they're cheap.
02:33They're not doing this because the number one story in all of sports will be
02:37whatever the eye popping number Drake may gets.
02:41So this is why he is aiming for whatever it is,
02:4435 million a percentage of the cap.
02:46It's never going to happen.
02:46No,
02:47because there already is a mechanism in place called the franchise tag that he
02:50could do every year,
02:51but the players hate it.
02:52So he can't,
02:53he doesn't really have a leg to stand on on that.
02:55What I believe will happen is between now and the first week of the season,
03:00all of the anger and leverage is against craft.
03:04The second the game begins against the Seahawks,
03:07everybody is going to turn on Christian Gonzalez.
03:10If he's not playing and they lose that game.
03:12And so this is really the window that he has to get something done because if he's not playing in
03:19actual games on a team that people believe to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender,
03:23he is going to not only ruin whatever goodwill he has.
03:27I don't think he's going to have the support of the locker room the entire year.
03:31I don't think that,
03:31I think he's lost the goodwill already.
03:33I think once the league happened.
03:34I would agree.
03:35There were a lot of people that were talking to us on Saturday night when we were doing our fireside
03:40chat with Ty Law who have kind of had it with Christian Gonzalez.
03:43They're like,
03:44now you know what the number ought to be.
03:46You know,
03:47he was saying a bunch last week and for weeks,
03:50you should be a million more than the guaranteed money that Witherspoon got.
03:54And let's go ahead and get this done and play football.
03:56And there are people who are like,
03:58wait a second,
03:59you're demanding that you're the highest paid at the position in 2028.
04:03Like,
04:04like what?
04:05Like,
04:05I think,
04:06I think craft looks amazing right now.
04:07Like,
04:07I think a lot of fans are saying,
04:09trade them,
04:09get,
04:10get good value for them.
04:11And I think if I'm Christian Gonzalez,
04:13I shot myself in the foot.
04:15Like,
04:15I think if they traded him today,
04:17fans would be okay.
04:17No way.
04:19No,
04:19they would be like,
04:20yes.
04:20If they traded one of the best corners in the league,
04:23who's your number one corner this year?
04:25You figure it out.
04:26You figure it out?
04:27Please go look.
04:28The guy who shut down JSN last year?
04:30I don't care.
04:31Please go look at Twitch.
04:32Go look on Twitter.
04:32Go look on Instagram.
04:33The amount of people that are saying I've had it.
04:36Those are people just talking.
04:38Yeah,
04:38but there are people who have an issue with him.
04:41I'm being hurt.
04:42He's,
04:42he's been hurt.
04:43He's been hurt a lot.
04:44Right.
04:44We did this last year with him.
04:45Yeah.
04:46Yeah.
04:47It's simple.
04:47Curtis,
04:48what'd you say?
04:48You had the,
04:49the meal,
04:50you had the entree.
04:51Yeah.
04:52The entree.
04:53Yes.
04:53Well,
04:53I'm going to give you the dessert.
04:55All right.
04:56And it's simple.
04:56And I said this on Saturday night.
04:58Can you hold off on dessert?
05:00I can hold off on that.
05:01Just for,
05:01just for four minutes.
05:03I can hold off on it.
05:04Is dessert included in the one meal?
05:06We'll get,
05:07we'll get you some kind of a,
05:10a,
05:10an amuse bouche while you are waiting.
05:13So you can cleanse your palate.
05:15And we'll get to Wiggy's lead and to Courtney's lead and to my lead.
05:20My dessert for this whole thing.
05:22And I kind of said this when we had our event at Bally's on Saturday night.
05:26I believe this Christian Gonzalez deal gets done by Wednesday,
05:30Friday at the latest.
05:31It's going to be somewhere between the range of four year,
05:34one 40,
05:36with probably one Oh two to one Oh five and signing in total guaranteed money.
05:42I understand what he's trying to do.
05:44He'll set the market this year when it comes to the highest paid corner,
05:47but you know,
05:48he's probably not going to set the market.
05:50He might be able to set the market next year only because I don't know what
05:55a free agent quarterbacks are out there that might be available up for a
05:59contract.
06:00So maybe he'll still be the highest paid guy next year.
06:03But as far as that whole percentage thing,
06:05I mean,
06:06Christian,
06:06I think he's trying his best,
06:07but he knows nobody has ever done it at any position.
06:11And I ultimately think that this deal gets done by the end of the week,
06:14this week.
06:15So what do you think craft originally offered him?
06:17Like what's the holdup?
06:18If Witherspoon is done,
06:20what's the holdup still?
06:21I think the original offer.
06:22And I said this,
06:23I think the original offer,
06:24the total money might've been the highest,
06:26but I don't think the guarantee was the highest.
06:28So you're looking at guaranteed in the nineties.
06:31Well,
06:31I would say probably somewhere between 95 and 98 million.
06:35And now I think that he has to understand Robert that he has to bump up to,
06:39and that's why I say somewhere between one Oh two and one Oh five.
06:43Basically what we know Devin Witherspoon got one-on-one.
06:47So that,
06:47but I ultimately think this deal gets done by Wednesday,
06:51Friday at the latest.
06:52If it doesn't get done by Friday,
06:53then I would,
06:55that would have me really,
06:56really concerned because I would be like,
06:58what are we doing here?
06:59I mean,
06:59it's the same agent.
07:01Yep.
07:01So I'm confused about if your belief is that they were just waiting for the
07:07Witherspoon deal to be done so that they set the market for Christian
07:11Gonzalez,
07:13but what's the,
07:14why aren't they ready to go?
07:15Why didn't they have it all written up and eyes dotted and T's crossed and
07:20they're ready to go?
07:21Like,
07:21because I think what Gonzalez try to do is maybe that report out there of the
07:25percentage thing.
07:26I think he said,
07:26all right,
07:27we're going to start as high as we possibly can and see if that's something
07:30that we can get knowing that probably they can.
07:33And then ultimately once Witherspoon gets done,
07:36I think now if the ball goes back to Robert and it says,
07:40all right,
07:41we now know what the contract is for Witherspoon.
07:43And if there are most people in the world of the NFL believe that Gonzalez is a
07:48better player than,
07:49than Witherspoon,
07:50it's all laid out for him right there.
07:53Cause maybe the sticking point was Witherspoon.
07:56And now that we know it,
07:58there's no more sticking point.
07:59That's why I ultimately think this deal gets done.
08:01And I also say like,
08:02he's 24.
08:04This negotiation will shape generations of wealth.
08:08And it's not something that he can be like,
08:11Oh,
08:11whatever.
08:12Like I do respect the fact that like,
08:14no matter what,
08:15Jonathan is a billionaire,
08:16no matter what,
08:17Robert's a billionaire,
08:18their grandkids will be billionaires.
08:19Like Christian Gonzalez is playing on a deal that is drastically undervalued for
08:25what he is to this team.
08:26And he's going to do whatever he can to maximize that.
08:29Right.
08:29And obviously the organization was behind the,
08:33we're looking for a percentage of the cap leak.
08:35Cause that makes the player look greedy.
08:37Right.
08:38I mean,
08:38that's not something that his agent would be saying.
08:40We need this right now.
08:42My concern would be going forward and negotiating with Christian Gonzalez.
08:45If in fact you do,
08:46but get a deal here is that next off season,
08:49if someone does get more,
08:50will he then say,
08:51I'm going to hold out until I get more.
08:52In other words,
08:53you know what I'm saying?
08:54That makes him really look bad because I,
08:56because I think you see it at every position,
08:59right?
09:00Every position.
09:00And I don't think there's been a guy and Ty,
09:03we talked about this with Ty on Saturday night.
09:05And I don't think there's ever been a guy that has basically said,
09:09all right,
09:09I want to be the highest paid player.
09:11Even if somebody else gets a contract more than I am,
09:15where I'm going to now revert,
09:16revert back,
09:17or there's going to be some escalator that kicks in to make me the
09:20highest paid player.
09:21I think,
09:21I think Alex Rodriguez had something like that way back in the day,
09:24but I'm talking about in football.
09:25Yeah.
09:26I don't,
09:26you know,
09:26maybe another sport,
09:27you might be able to do something like that in baseball,
09:29but I think ultimately what,
09:31what Christian Gonzalez did is he,
09:33he did what you're supposed to do shoot for the moon.
09:35And then hopefully once the witherspoon deal gets done,
09:39now Robert knows where he has to be in the world.
09:42He has to be in.
09:43And you're 100% right.
09:45Curtis,
09:45like we've seen people make hundreds of millions of dollars playing
09:48professional sports and go broke.
09:50You really don't see billionaires that happened with billionaires.
09:53So he's got to get as much money as he can.
09:55Excuse me.
09:56The guy who owns the Dodgers is in serious trouble.
09:59Yeah.
10:00I mean,
10:00let's,
10:00let's be honest here.
10:02I just,
10:03is there a go fund me yet?
10:05You ask if he's going to hold out,
10:07like he gets his deal done.
10:09Now,
10:09is he going to hold out next year?
10:10If somebody gets more?
10:11Yes.
10:12He's already done that.
10:13And,
10:13and year after year,
10:16you know,
10:17everybody was all over me last year when I called what he did.
10:20He did a hold in.
10:22It's clearly,
10:23it was a,
10:23it was a hold in last season.
10:25It's a hold in this season.
10:27He tells you he's hurt every,
10:28every time he doesn't get what he wants.
10:30Like I,
10:31well,
10:32he's got his money.
10:32If he gets his money,
10:33then it goes back.
10:34He's not going to be happy.
10:35But it goes back to Courtney's point,
10:36what she originally said.
10:38Then I think people will be like,
10:40if he wants to play this game,
10:42then the conversation becomes,
10:44all right,
10:44do we then now try to trade this guy?
10:46But the writing's on the wall.
10:47Greg is right.
10:48Like he did this last season.
10:49We know what he wants.
10:50Now.
10:50I believe the leak.
10:51I believe the leak that I,
10:53that I think might've come from the crafts after Christian Gonzalez post that
10:57Instagram story.
10:58This should have been done.
10:59Whatever the title of the song was like to me,
11:02once I hear what he's actually asking for,
11:05that it's not just a guaranteed money.
11:06I understand the guaranteed money ass.
11:08And I think that players deserve that.
11:10Right.
11:10I don't understand the greed that comes along with what that report is.
11:14But that's a game though.
11:15That's a game that he's playing.
11:16But if it,
11:17but what if it's not a game?
11:18What if his agent,
11:19his agent has got to be a smarter man than that and say,
11:23listen,
11:23this is that you're asking for something that no team is going to give you the
11:28same way.
11:29We,
11:29we,
11:29we made fun and we joked that Caleb Williams expense.
11:32No team is going to give you a percentage.
11:35Let me ask you if this deal is not done by Wednesday,
11:37not done by Friday.
11:39Do you then believe that maybe Christian Gonzalez is not budging on wanting
11:42what that leak was?
11:44Oh yeah.
11:45Then I might say there's an issue that then what's going to happen is he
11:47might not budge.
11:48Guess what?
11:49Nobody's paying him that.
11:50Nobody is going to give him a percentage.
11:53Nobody,
11:54nobody.
11:54Then what do you do in that case?
11:56If you're Robert,
11:56then you,
11:57what you do is you franchise tag them.
11:59You know what?
11:59Guess what?
12:00You don't want your 102 millionaires.
12:01We're going to do.
12:02We're going to franchise tag you because no one's going to give you that.
12:05Well,
12:05he's not going to get,
12:06I mean,
12:06he's under contract,
12:07so they're not going to give him a franchise.
12:08No,
12:08I'm saying next year.
12:09No,
12:10it'd be two years.
12:11No.
12:11Well,
12:11I think next year they picked up his fifth year option for next year.
12:15So they don't even need to franchise him until the following.
12:17All right.
12:17So for two years.
12:18Right.
12:18So,
12:19but,
12:19but if that,
12:20if he does hold out and he doesn't sign a deal,
12:24if the,
12:24if the crafts offer 103 million guaranteed and 140 million total,
12:28the 90% of the fan base,
12:31at least will be on the side of the organization.
12:33Yep.
12:33And I don't know what his end game is,
12:37but it is going to be,
12:40I think the reason you had Vrabel as sort of grumpy as he was at,
12:45as it pertained to the questions about Gonzalez is because he may feel that
12:49Gonzalez is not being logical.
12:52And I do know it's a physical thing.
12:55I do think that,
12:57you know,
12:59Vrabel is in a relatively difficult spot because he was such an advocate for the
13:03players benefits.
13:03And he was a team rep with the union and all that.
13:06But like at a certain point,
13:09you have to accept that this is a bird in the hand and it's better than two in
13:14the book.
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