Patriots Minicamp Camp Headlines

By Steve Atkinson 

Patriots begin minicamp this week, and many headlines are emerging as they start. Christian Gonzalez and Kayshon Boutte are expected to attend after missing OTAs, and it will be a first for AJ Brown as a Patriot. We’ll see if there’s any change with Will Campbell being switched to guard, and off the field, ESPN and the league are making sure the Vrabel situation is pushed aside, boosting the Patriots and AJ Brown. Don’t get me wrong, it was a big signing, but we all knew it was coming.

The Patriots paying AJ Brown means they’ll need to pay Christian Gonzalez and Drake Maye. Kayshon Boutte, who also wants to get paid, might not get that opportunity. There’s talk of a Stefon Diggs return, which would create a lot of egos in that room. AJ Brown and Diggs both have big personalities.

Patriots Christian Gonzalez Holdout?

Another question is if Christian Gonzalez shows up, how will he participate? Will he just stand around, or will he do some team drills? He was the best player in the Super Bowl, but he’s made it clear he wants to get paid, flashing the money sign a couple of months ago at a Celtics game. Vrabel said last week.

I think the contract is the business and the professional side of this,” Vrabel said, via transcript from the team. “The personal side, I don’t want to let anything interfere with that. I want Christian to be ready when he comes back.

“I would imagine that he would be here next week. If he is, then we’ll coach him, be ready to move on, and get him ready to help us and help himself. Contracts are part of professional sports, I understand that. But I also know that those should remain private. Like any contract negotiation, you want to make sure that everybody feels like they get something out of it, and I’ll leave it at that.”

The receiver room is crowded I do think Boutte may be the odd man out unless he can beat Douglas as the third receiver. Boutte has come up big for the Patriots in big moments. But I think if Diggs comes back he’s definitely out. So far it’s AJ Brown, Romeo Dobbs, Demario Douglas, and probably Boutte. It’s been a long time coming to get a number one receiver something Belichick wouldn’t have done. Last time they had this big of a name was probably Randy Moss.