Adam Schefter defends reporting on Patriots, Christian Gonzalez: ‘This was not a simple deal’

Adam Schefter reported one thing about the New England Patriots and Christian Gonzalez, and then they both did the exact opposite.

Monday afternoon, Schefter went on The Pat McAfee Show and claimed a deal between the Patriots and cornerback Christian Gonzalez “wasn’t close.”

“As of right now the talks are nowhere..

I was told yesterday that a Christian Gonzalez deal wasn’t close..

If you can’t agree on the money the years become secondary” ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/oCzikDh7Kx

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 7, 2026

“These things always can change. But as of right now, talks are nowhere,” Schefter told McAfee. “Again, there always can be a last-second push, and there always can be something that changes. We’ll see how the two sides address it once the season is underway. ​“But as of right now, it’s hard to imagine that the two sides would be able to make up the difference to get a deal done by opening night. Again, we’ve seen crazy things happen, and I’m sure there could be another push to try to see if they could salvage it and get it done. But right now, as of yesterday, I was told it was not close.”

The most factual part of that report came when Schefter said, “These things always can change.” Because late Monday night, Schefter’s ESPN colleague Jeremy Fowler reported New England and Gonzalez had agreed to a record 4-year, $135 million deal, making him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history.

Maybe Schefter was being used by one side of the negotiations, or maybe he just completely misread the game of chicken the Patriots and Gonzalez were playing ahead of their season opener. But after Gonzalez and the Patriots agreed to a deal, Schefter doubled down on his previous report, insisting things really were far apart right up until they weren’t.

A season preview for all 32 NFL teams, including a look at how the Patriots and Christian Gonzalez reached agreement on a record-setting CB deal.

Cc: @tyschmit

🎧 https://t.co/4VF1IZOMll pic.twitter.com/2yi55hDtGs

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 8, 2026

“It was strained enough at one point that there were conversations in the Patriots organization in recent days about whether or not they should pull the offer,” Schefter said on his podcast this week with Ty Schmit. “This was not a simple deal to get done; we heard on August 25th, Christian Gonzalez complain about the offer. But the offer pretty much was the same until the end, when they upped the average per year and basically agreed to the deal while they were in the air.”

The deal ultimately was as simple as the Patriots exceeding Devon Witherspoon’s recent four-year, $132 million contract to make Gonzalez the highest-paid corner in league history. Anytime a player is seeking a record-breaking contract, negotiations are bound to get “strained” at some point.  But the talks couldn’t have been “nowhere,” for both sides to agree on a historic contract less than 24 hours after Schefter offered that update.