Christian Gonzalez is shipping up to Boston.
The former Oregon cornerback was selected by the New England Patriots with the No. 17 overall pick of the NFL draft Thursday night.
“It means everything,” Gonzalez said on NFL Network. “I’m super excited for this opportunity and I can’t wait to go out there and just go to work.”
Gonzalez’s four-year contract, with a fifth-year club option, is projected to be worth $15,687,962 with a $8,409,428 signing bonus, according to OverTheCap.com.
Gonzalez is the 21st player in program history to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft, including nine since 2013 and 12 since 2000. He’s the fourth Oregon defensive back selected in the first round of the NFL draft since 1967 joining Alex Molden (No. 11 in 1996), Mario Clark (No. 18, 1976) and Jim Smith (No. 12, 1968).
It’s the first time in program history that players were drafted in the first round in four straight years. His selection follows the picks of former Ducks edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux at No. 5 by the New York Giants in 2022, offensive tackle Penei Sewell at No. 7 by the Detroit Lions in 2021 and quarterback Justin Herbert at No. 6 by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020.
The first Pac-12 player taken in the this year’s draft, Gonzalez is the fourth Duck ever selected by the Patriots and first since Patrick Chung in 2009.
A first-team all-Pac-12 honoree by the league’s coaches, Gonzalez had 50 tackles, four interceptions, seven pass breakups and a blocked field goal last season.
At the NFL combine, Gonzalez ran the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds, seventh among the 29 cornerbacks who ran, his 41.5-inch vertical jump tied for second out of 30 cornerbacks to jump and his 11-foot-1 broad jump tied for fourth among 29 corners. Gonzalez also performed 14 bench press reps of 225 pounds. He received a 92 overall draft score from NFL Next Gen Stats, highest among this year’s cornerbacks.
He stood with those results and performed on-field drills during Oregon’s pro day last month, making several acrobatic plays while showing his speed and length.
A four-star prospect ranked No. 326 overall and No. 46 in the state of Texas in the class of 2020, Gonzalez won a starting job as a true freshman at Colorado during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He had 25 tackles and five pass breakups in six games as a true freshman
As a second-year freshman in 2021, Gonzalez had 53 tackles with 5.5 for loss — most in the Pac-12 and fourth nationally among true cornerbacks — and five pass breakups in 12 games.
