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‘There was a screaming match on draft day’: How Christian Gonzalez almost ended up in Washington
A new report revealed how Gonzalez was nearly picked by the Commanders one spot ahead of the Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft.
While cornerback Christian Gonzalez has been one of the few Patriots bright spots in the last two years, a recent report shed light on how close another team came to drafting him right in front of New England in 2023.
Gonzalez, 22, was picked 17th overall by the Patriots in that year’s draft. It proved to be one of the last great draft picks of the Bill Belichick era, secured after a trade with the Steelers. Gonzalez quickly developed into a shutdown cornerback, fighting against the tide on an otherwise declining New England defense (especially in 2024).
Yet according to NBC Sports Washington’s J.P. Finlay, Gonzalez almost ended up being picked 16th by the Commanders. In a recent interview on 106.7 The Fan, Finlay explained what happened behind the scenes, as Washington ended up drafting fellow cornerback Emmanuel Forbes one pick ahead of New England.
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“During the Ron [Rivera] era, there was real dissension within that front office on some of the philosophical decision-making as it related to size,” Finlay said, per a transcription from MassLive’s Chris Mason. “Where they would skew — the easiest thing to point to, and I know there was a screaming match on draft day, [is] about the Forbes decision when Gonzalez was there.
“They were like, ‘This dude [Gonzalez] has prototype size, speed, every measurable you have,’” Finlay continued. “And then you look at a lot of the decisions during Ron’s era, it seemed like they were not scared to move away from what you would want [with] size and speed.”
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Ron Rivera, the former Washington head coach, was fired after going 4-13 in 2023. Forbes, a former All-American from Mississippi State, struggled in his rookie season. He was benched at one point, and never hit his stride. In a rare move for a first-round pick drafted only the year before, Washington cut Forbes in 2024. He was eventually claimed off waivers by the Rams.
Gonzalez was identified by multiple draft analysts as the top cornerback in the draft, but Rivera and Washington ended up going with Forbes instead. For the Patriots, it proved to be one of the only lucky moves the team has had fall its way in the last few years. The talented cornerback is expected to become a key building block for Mike Vrabel in the years ahead.
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