Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - BREAKING: Gabe Jacas Signs & Patriots Offer Christian Gonzalez Record Money?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Gabe Backus and the Pats finally put pen to paper as the second round pick is signed, sealed, and delivered. This is Locked on Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, and Nick Cattles. On today's episode, the Pats hit the field for the first official training camp practice for the 2026 season. In the second segment, Robert Kraft delivers a significant update on Christian Gonzalez's contract negotiations.

Starting point is 00:00:42 But first, the Gabe Accus deal is finally done. Travion Henderson last year signed his rookie contract on July 18th. Exactly one year and one week later, Gabe Accus has finally agreed to a contract. He is ready. He is, as I said in the open, signed, sealed and delivered. the Patriots moved up in the second round to draft Gabe Accus. They feel really good about him. There was this back and forth that was awkward, not a lot of specifics as to what happened

Starting point is 00:01:15 and why this really dragged on was because the Patriots were unaware of a surgery or unaware of an injury. Did this injury happen at the worst time between the draft and rookie minicamp? We don't know. We don't know what happened. But all we know right now on July 25th is Gabe Accus is official. a New England Patriot. Jordan Schultz posted a couple of hours ago. The Patriot signed rookie Gabe Accus to a four-year, $8.6 million contract. Now, the $8.6 million is slotted money.

Starting point is 00:01:49 We all knew roughly what Gabe Accus was going to make. That's how it works in the second round. But the details about this contract are going to be critical. How much of this $8.6 million is guaranteed for Gabe Accus. The the Patriots guarantee all of it, the majority of it, some of it? What are the injury protections that the Patriots were seeking within this contract? We should get some details over the next 24 to 48 hours, which will help crystallize what type of contract this is and maybe give us more information as to what the Patriots were concerned by and why this took as long as it did. So what type of injury protections are there built within this contract agreement for the Patriots?

Starting point is 00:02:37 And what type of protections are in this contract for Gabe Accus? Obviously, it almost goes without saying the Patriots and Gabe Accus were not that far apart this week, right? A deal gets done on Saturday morning. They were probably close to hammering out this contract within the last 48 to 72 hours. And right before Jordan Schultz reported that the deal was done, Mike Reese reported that he heard things had gotten far along in the talks and that he would have been surprised if a deal wasn't announced sooner rather than later. And really within the hour, it popped up that the Gabacus deal was done. So they were obviously not too far apart this week working on this contract. Now the Patriots, you know, they're practicing both days this weekend.

Starting point is 00:03:27 They practiced earlier today, which we will get to in a few minutes, and they are going to practice tomorrow on Sunday. So with the Patriots practicing both days this weekend, I would not be surprised whatsoever if Gabe Accus is actually out there on the field on Sunday, officially starting his training camp with the paths. That would not surprise me. I would expect Gabe Acis to be out there tomorrow. I would have to imagine. I know Mike Vrable this morning said that he wasn't even sure if Gabe Accus was in New England. Well, if he's not in New England, he's probably very close by. And he can jump on a plane and get to Gillette, sign this contract by the end of the day and be out there for practice on Sunday. And that's what I would anticipate. And now big picture when you look at this, you know, missing one training camp practice does limit the damage done to his rookie season. I mentioned this on the bonus podcast yesterday. The longer this dragged out, the tougher it was to envision Gabe Accus being a significant piece of the puzzle in 2026.

Starting point is 00:04:33 Well, now that the deal is done and he misses one training camp practice, that does limit the damage. But don't get it twisted. Gabe Accus has still missed a lot of time. He has missed a lot of work behind the scenes. And now he's going to have to play catch up. He is still behind. He's got to get working. He's going to get working quickly.

Starting point is 00:04:53 he's going to get out there on the field and start working his way towards being a piece of that puzzle. Now, the good news when you look at Gabe Accus is he really is more polished as a rookie than some other guys that get drafted, right? Accus was at Illinois for four years. So he's somebody that is seen as a player who can kind of plop in and play, plug in play, as they say. Now, of course, again, that will be impacted at least slightly, if not moderately. given what happened here over the past couple of months, but he was a plug-in-play guy. So I don't think it's going to be some, you know,

Starting point is 00:05:29 dramatic crazy transition. It is going to be likely a tough transition like it is for any rookie. But I'm happy. And Patriots fans should be happy and excited that this thing got done and it didn't drag for another week of camp, two weeks of camp, because that would have been massively detrimental to not only ACIS, but also the team.

Starting point is 00:05:50 And now really what you're focused on is, can Gabe Accus acclimate himself enough during this training camp? Can he catch up on the work that he missed and be able to be that fourth guy in the defensive end rotation by week one? And I think it's possible. I think it's more than possible. Now that he is signed, now that he will be out there, I would expect tomorrow. If not, he'll be out there for the walkthrough on Monday.

Starting point is 00:06:18 I think you've got enough time that Gabe Accus can prove himself. and be slotted as that fourth guy. Behind Harold Landry, which we will get to Harold Landry a little bit later on the pod, not the best news from Mike Vrable on Landry, but behind Harold Landry, if he's out there, Draymont Jones, Elijah Ponder, and then Gabacchus will be behind those three gentlemen. So great news to start the day for the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:06:43 Finally, we've been waiting months, but finally the deal is done in Gabe Accus, has signed, and again, I think he will be out there. tomorrow during Sunday's training camp practice. All right. Robert Kraft confirms the Pats have an offer on the table to Christian Gonzalez, and it sounds like this offer is a very significant one. It's coming up next.

Starting point is 00:07:09 This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and somehow none of them talk to each other. That's where Odu comes in. Odo is an all-in-one business management software that brings every part of your business together in one powerful platform. From sales and accounting to inventory and marketing, everything works in one place, helping your team move faster,

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Starting point is 00:09:36 Big News, Gabe Accus has officially agreed to his rookie deal. Sign sealed delivered. I would expect him to be at practice tomorrow. We'll talk about Christian Gonzalez and what Robert Kraft had to say to the media today. Surprisingly, Robert Kraft going on the record. and sharing some significant information regarding this negotiation between the Patriots and Gonzalez. Don't forget as you're watching us here on YouTube to click that thumbs up.

Starting point is 00:10:03 Give us a like. Don't forget to comment as well. Want your thoughts on Gabe Accus. This deal finally getting done. And don't forget to subscribe. The goal is 11,000 subscribers by week one against the Seahawks in Seattle. Before we get to Robert Kraft and Christian Gonzalez, let's first hit a couple of comments. King Crow 2252.

Starting point is 00:10:25 We're back, Context, Goat. Hashtag Patriots. Thanks, King Crow. We are indeed. We are indeed back, my friend. Sean Pats fan, let's go. It's going to be a great season. A lot of excitement, man.

Starting point is 00:10:39 I mean, you saw it this morning at training camp, like 8 a.m. 9 a.m. lines stretched out. People excited to see A.J. Brown. People excited to see Drake May, second year in the Josh McDaniels offense. This very talented defense should be an exciting training camp for sure. JG 32. Oh, yeah, it's all coming together. It feels that way.

Starting point is 00:11:02 I mean, it's very early on. But again, incredibly positive news this morning with the ACCA signing getting done. And Anthony Spano says, awesome news. Now the Boston media, not Nick, can shut their bleeping traps. Yeah, I guess so. I guess so. All right, let's get into Christian Gonzalez. First and foremost, I thought the most significant news today was not Gabe Accus getting done.

Starting point is 00:11:28 I thought the most significant news on this Saturday was actually Christian Gonzalez out there on the practice field. Now, we talked about this during yesterday's bonus podcast. Mike Grable with the media on Friday said that Christian Gonzalez, he expected Gonzalez to participate in training camp. And he expected him to participate in the first practice. of training camp, which was obviously today. And I said on the bonus podcast, there's different levels of participation. You know, would Christian Gonzalez hold in? Would he be out there for individual drills? Would he be out there with the helmet sitting on the sidelines, not doing overall too much? Would he put himself, quote, unquote, in harm's way as he's working on a

Starting point is 00:12:10 contract extension with the team? And I expected Christian Gonzalez to be limited. He was going to participate, but I thought he was going to be limited in that participation. I could have not been more wrong. I thought the most positive and biggest news today was that Christian Gonzalez was out there on the field taking live reps in 11-on-11s. The first throw of the day was Drake made at A.J. Brown, Gonzalez covering A.J. Brown. There's a back shoulder throw, one-handed catch attempt. It was incomplete. That's very surprising to me. And I think it's great news. And I think that tells us that this relationship between Gonzalez and the Patriots is on some pretty solid ground. If he's out there and he's participating fully like he was today,

Starting point is 00:13:00 I think that tells us that there's positive momentum here. They continue to talk and these conversations are going so well that Christian Gonzalez is not playing any games. He's out there. He's practicing fully. He's being a teammate. He went to all of the, you know, away from the. field projects that his teammates had this offseason like Drake May's softball game. When he has spoken to media, he has been very good and hasn't said anything ridiculous.

Starting point is 00:13:29 And so now we move it forward and he's out there 11 on 11s. Robert Kraft was also out there. And he went on the record with the media about the deal that the team has offered Christian Gonzalez. Kraft said, quote, we love Christian Gonzalez. We love him as a player, as a person. that's why we've made him an offer that makes him the highest paid player to ever play that position in the NFL. And coincidentally, it's the highest contract in Patriots franchise history.

Starting point is 00:13:59 We're glad we drafted him. He's developed here. We hope he's here for a long time. You've got Mike Vrable on the record saying we love Christian Gonzalez. We want to get a deal done. You've got Elliot Wolfe on the record. We love Christian Gonzalez. We want to get a deal done.

Starting point is 00:14:15 And now you've got the owner who is signing the checks telling us, telling the media out there in public, everybody can hear it, everybody can read the quote. You've got Robert Kraft saying that they have made an offer to Christian Gonzalez that would make him the highest paid cornerback in the history of the league. And it would be the highest contract the Patriots have given in franchise history. So as far as what we have been told publicly, the Patriots are all in on the Christian Gonzalez. business. And it's great news because it seems like the Patriots are very intent on getting a deal done. They're not dragon feet. They're not waiting around. It doesn't sound like they're playing any type of games with Christian Gonzalez. If this offer is on the table, as Robert Kraft said, and it's an offer that would pay Christian Gonzalez as the top paid cornerback in the history of the

Starting point is 00:15:09 league, and it's the most money the Patriots have ever offered a football player, they're not messing around. They're trying to get this thing done. Their intent on Christian Gonzalez being a patriot, not only in 2026, but in future years. And we talked about it in prior podcast. You know, there's a way the Patriots could find some kind of middle ground deal. And Greg Bedard has written about this at Boston Sports Journal, the idea of giving Christian Gonzalez like a three-year, $90 million contract extension with pretty much all of the money guaranteed. If we take Robert Kraft at his word, this is not a middle ground deal. This is not trying to find that middle area, that gray area where the team can feel like they did something great

Starting point is 00:15:51 and Gonzalez feels like they did something great. If you're going to pay Christian Gonzalez as the highest paid cornerback in the history of the game, you are going to surpass the Trent McDuffie contract that he signed this offseason with the Rams a couple months ago. Trent McDuffie signed for $124 million total and $31 million average per year. So that's the money we're looking at. If Robert Kraft is to be believed and taken at his word, the Patriots have an offer on the table to Christian Gonzalez's representation that would pay him more than $124 million total dollars

Starting point is 00:16:26 and would pay him more than $31 million per season. If you're wondering about the Patriots record, that was last offseason. Milton Williams has the biggest contract in Patriots history. And that, again, just happened last offseason. The Milton Williams contract, $104 million, with $63 million of that guaranteed. Trent McDuffie, meanwhile,

Starting point is 00:16:52 he got $100 million guaranteed from the Rams. So the question I have is how much of this money is guaranteed? Because you could play some semantics games here. Robert Kraft could be saying, we're paying, you know, the biggest contract in cornerback history, but he's going off the average per year. So maybe it is like a three-year deal, but it's at 32 or 33 million a year, right? How much of the money is guaranteed?

Starting point is 00:17:22 Is Robert Kraft telling us that it's the most guaranteed money that a cornerback would have ever received in the NFL? I don't know. Again, what Kraft said was, we've made an offer to him that makes him the highest paid player to ever play that position in the NFL and said that it was the biggest contract offer the Patriots have ever made. I mean, you could offer 70 million guaranteed. That's the most guaranteed money that you've ever given a player. So there is some wiggle room here. But if you take, if you take Robert Kraft at face value, this is not some type of middle ground

Starting point is 00:18:03 deal. This is, this is big time money being thrown on the table for Christian Gonzalez. Now, Ian Rappaport of the NFL network recently this week reported that Devin Witherspoon in Seattle is in the middle of quote unquote intense negotiations with the Seahawks. And Rappaport reported that he would be surprised if the final deal for Witherspoon is not around $32 million per year. And we know that reportedly Christian Gonzalez is waiting for Witherspoon and that deal to get done. And so if Witherspoon is going to end up getting $32 million on the average per year,

Starting point is 00:18:38 year, it would stand to reason that Christian Gonzalez is looking at 32 and a half million, 33 million, and maybe that's just a hold up. I mean, I doubt that Robert Kraft is lying. I'm sure the Patriots have offered Christian Gonzalez big time money with what Kraft said earlier today. It's just what are these specifics? Is it the biggest guaranteed money deal? Is it the biggest money in totality? We don't know. Because it would be so easy. for Christian Gonzalez's side to come out and shoot this down and say, that's not the case. And so it'll be pretty interesting to see if there is some type of pushback from Gonzalez or his representation. But it really does feel like Ian Rappaport's reporting this week.

Starting point is 00:19:23 And with what Robert Kraft said earlier today, it really does feel like this thing can get done. And it feels like Gonzalez and the Patriots are negotiating in good faith, if not very good faith. The Patriots are taking this negotiation seriously. They're offering significant money, maybe even historic money at the position and for the franchise. Gonzalez is out there 11 on 11s. Looks like he's playing ball literally and figuratively. So, you know, there's nothing bad about this negotiation so far. It feels like each side is trying to get this thing done.

Starting point is 00:20:01 All right. The latest on Harold Landry and what day one of training camp practice looked like. That's all coming up. This is Lockdown Patriots. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is sponsored by Square. If you've ever tapped to pay and thought, man, that was fast. It was probably Square.

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Starting point is 00:21:34 Appreciate every single one of you. Before we get to the latest regarding how. Harold Landry. Want to hit a couple of comments. World Be Free. Petition to change plug and play to plop and play. Should I roll with that? World Be free moving forward?

Starting point is 00:21:48 I like it. Plop and play instead of plug and play. We should do it. Plug and play is used so much. I'll try to remember this. Plop and play. I don't mind it. Inquire mine.

Starting point is 00:21:58 Lockdown Patriots for Life. Thanks, man. Little NWO shout out there. Big wrestling fan for those who don't know. All right. So Mike Vrable told the media this morning that he can't predict if Harold Landry's injury will impact the start of his season. I don't know what to make of this comment from Vrable because, I mean, it could just be the nature of

Starting point is 00:22:19 an injury, right? And he doesn't want to go out there and say, oh yeah, Harold Landry is going to be ready when he might not be ready, even if it's like a 10% chance. I also don't know if Mike Vrable's just kind of playing games. He doesn't like to reveal much about injuries, which is smart business. I mean, Mike Vrable also told the press. right before we found out that Gabe Accus had agreed to his contract that there was no update on Accus. Now, of course, there was no real tangible update in that second in real time, but Mike Rable could have given us a little bit of a hint. He did not.

Starting point is 00:22:54 So, you know, Harold Landry, you wonder, is this injury more serious than we think? He got surgery more than five months ago. He got surgery shortly after the Super Bowl. So, you know, you're looking at five plus months. and if Harold Landry can't go week one, there's going to be some big time pressure on the aforementioned Gabe in his rookie season, and there's going to be some big time pressure on Elijah Ponder

Starting point is 00:23:18 to walk the walk after all the talk this offseason from the coaches and others. There's going to be some big time pressure on both those cats to significantly contribute and significantly contribute right away, right out of the gates. If Harold Landry ain't out there week one, you're going to rely on those other two guys to go along with Draymont Jones. So something to keep an eye on. Again, I'm not going to hit the panic button just yet.

Starting point is 00:23:43 I would expect they're going to manage Harold Landry. So we'll see how all of this unfolds. Some other camp notes from the first practice at training camp in 2026. No pads. So no pads in today's practice, which is expected. It's the first practice. And the Patriots worked on offensive tempo. when Mike Vrable was speaking with the media earlier today,

Starting point is 00:24:05 he said that one area of emphasis, according to Evan Lizarre for Drake May is to operate faster. Vrable said, quote, more urgent and get everybody functioning just a little bit quicker. And as Evan Lazzar points out, the Patriots last year, as great as their offense was, and as productive as their offense was,

Starting point is 00:24:24 the Patriots were 28th last year in seconds per play last season. So it's like the Celtics pace of play. the Patriots tempo offensively was slow. Very slow. So tempo, tempo, tempo. I think last year's offense was likely slower because it was Drake May's first season in Josh McDaniel's offense and you had a lot of new that you were working with.

Starting point is 00:24:48 So I think now second year in the system for Drake May, he should be able to operate more efficiently and more quickly. And that will help the offense because you don't want to give the defense all day long to figure out what you might be doing. You don't want to give the defense all day long to catch their breath and get lined up correctly. You want to put some urgency into the defensive mindset. You want to push those guys a little bit. So tempo on offense is something that it's pretty obvious underlined by this coaching staff

Starting point is 00:25:19 and something they want to work on right off the bat immediately, which tells us that it's a significant weakness in their eyes. Pick up the tempo. The first big play of the day and the biggest play of the day, Drake made a Kishan booty. And of course, this is going to cause a lot of people to scream from the mountaintops. Keep booty. Keep Kishon. It was a 40-yard diving catch from May to booty.

Starting point is 00:25:46 I would note, much like I said about Christian Gonzalez, that Kishon Booty was out there and he was a full participant. He was participating in 11 on 11s, which to me is great news. He's been on the trading block reportedly all offseason. Talk about being a professional. And I think it just speaks volumes about this culture, and it speaks volumes about Mike Grable's communication skills. You've got Christian Gonzalez trying to iron out a huge contract extension. You've got Kishon Booty, who's been involved in trade talks since going back to the draft,

Starting point is 00:26:18 and you've got both of those guys out there fully participating day one of training camp. Tells me the mindset is where it should be. business. Now, Morgan Moses was managed today, and I would expect him NBA style to be load managed throughout training camp throughout the season, 35 years old. He was managed a decent amount last year. So I would expect a lot of the load management for Morgan Moses, which opens the door for Caleb Lomu and James Hudson to, you know, get a good amount of reps. And both those guys got some reps today. So, you know, Caleb Lomu is out there. James Hudson is out there. They're getting reps for Morgan Moses when Morgan Moses sits. And I think that would be the plan moving forward.

Starting point is 00:27:04 Another full participant today, big news, Elijah Verit Tucker. So Elijah Verit Tucker was out there as a full participant. This is an improvement in a change from mandatory mini camp when Elijah Verit Tucker was getting managed. But, you know, today, day one of camp, AVT is out there as a full participant. That tells me he's right on schedule. Drake may finish six of nine. In 11-on-11s during the practice, the Patriots ran a lot of zone runs today. They were working on their run game. They were working on first and second down. And again, tempo.

Starting point is 00:27:37 That's pretty much what was outlined before the practice by Vrable. A.J. Brown, if you were wondering, had zero catches today. He only had one target. That was the first throw of the day that I mentioned early on in this episode, where Drake may try to go back shoulder against Christian Gonzalez and A.J. Brown tried to grab it with one hand. It was an incomplete pass. So only one target for AJ Brown, quiet day for him.

Starting point is 00:28:00 No big deal. Romeo Dobbs, if you're wondering, had two catches today. I guess he slipped a couple times. A little bit of a slip and slide action out there for the first day of training camp, but Romeo Dobbs made two catches. And one of them reportedly was a fantastic hands catch where it wasn't the best throw, but he made a very nice catch. So Romeo Dobbs got involved.

Starting point is 00:28:20 And Taylor Kyle's had an interesting note. The Patriots played apparently a lot of big nickel at practice. today with Mike Brown playing in the slot. So we could see more, we can see more three safety defenses this year. We could see more big nickel this year from this defense. Something to stick a pin in. All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots.

Starting point is 00:28:45 Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C-Radio. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube. Help us out. I see almost 300 watching live right now. Can't thank you, you know, enough for. jumping on and listening and watching and also commenting and getting involved in the conversation. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen for your second listen. Check out Lockdown NFL scouting.

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Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - BREAKING: Gabe Jacas Signs & Patriots Offer Christian Gonzalez Record Money?

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