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FOXBORO — The cornerback market was reset Saturday, which should theoretically help the Patriots reach an agreement with Pro Bowler Christian Gonzalez. The Seahawks agreed to terms with their top cornerback, Devon Witherspoon, on a four-year, $132 million contract extension Saturday. Witherspoon is now the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL at $33 million per year. That eclipses a deal signed by Browns cornerback Denzel Ward this offseason that pays him $31.1 million per year. Ward’s deal exceeded a four-year, $124 million ($31 million per year) pact signed by Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie this offseason. Gonzalez and Witherspoon share an agent, Reginald Johnson of Elite One Sports Management. They also each have separate representatives at Win Sports Group. The Patriots cornerback has previously said he was not waiting on Witherspoon, with whom he’s close, to sign a deal before agreeing to his own extension. Gonzalez and Witherspoon were both selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft and are newly eligible to sign extensions this offseason. Gonzalez is under contract through the 2027 season since the team picked up his fifth-year option. So, any deal signed by Gonzalez would begin in 2028. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said on the first day of training camp that the team offered Gonzalez a contract that would make him the top-paid cornerback and the highest-paid player in franchise history. Cornerback contracts have only risen in the past three weeks. Gonzalez responded by saying he’s not looking to negotiate through the media. Gonzalez had been a full participant through the first two weeks of training camp, despite his uncertain future. He suffered an injury on the final play of Monday’s practice, however, and has not been spotted since, missing a joint practice against the Colts on Tuesday, a preseason game against the Colts on Thursday and Saturday’s practice. “I don’t think I would expect Christian, nor should you expect Christian,” head coach Mike Vrabel said before Saturday’s practice. “Nope. Working hard, conditioning, but will not be practicing. He’s not ready to get back out there and practice yet.” Vrabel said Friday that Gonzalez’s absence is unrelated to the cornerbacks’ contract matter. He said Saturday that he’s on the same page with his team’s top cornerback. “Absolutely. And I think that’s the important thing,” Vrabel said. “I’ve talked about his professionalism, everybody else’s. So, this isn’t anything like that. It was something that happened in practice, and he’s where he’s supposed to be when he needs to be there. Treatment, working with (director of sports performance) Frank (Piraino) and doing those things. But yes, obviously, that’s my job, is to be on the same page with everybody here, players and coaches. And I’m confident that that’s what we are doing, and everybody has a plan each and every day.” The Patriots will practice Monday and hold walkthroughs Sunday and Tuesday this week. They have joint practices with the Eagles on Wednesday and Thursday before their second preseason game against Philadelphia on Saturday. The defense missed Gonzalez’s presence in practice Saturday. Carlton Davis returned to team drills after an extended absence due to a hamstring injury. He allowed five touchdowns during team drills to Patriots wide receivers. “Obviously, when you take two weeks off, you have to get back into it,” Davis said. “You got to catch the flow of things, and you got to get your legs back up under you. So I’m going through that process, but it felt great to get back out there and compete.” Charles Woods has helped fill in for Davis and Gonzalez, but he also returned to practice Saturday sporting a red non-contact jersey. Vrabel said Saturday that Woods is returning from “protocol.” Beyond Gonzalez, Davis, Woods and slot cornerback Marcus Jones, the Patriots have an open competition for any additional roles and roster spots at the position. Kindle Vildor and rookies Karon Pruny, a fifth-round pick, and Channing Canada, an undrafted free agent, took on the top cornerback reps in Thursday’s preseason game. Kobee Minor, Brandon Crossley and undrafted free agent Kenneth Harris fill out the position room. Vildor intercepted Colts quarterback Anthony Richardon in Thursday’s game. Vrabel described the veteran cornerback’s game as “very aggressive.” “He wants to play physical,” Vildor said. “I think just being a little bit more multiple is something that he’s really focused on, and our coaches have tried to do a great job with that. So, not just playing man coverage, not just pressing, not just trying to jam him and be physical at the line of scrimmage, but use some of the other tools that we have, some of the other coverages and become familiar with those, that’ll just help you. Playing man is great, but then being able to mix some of those things up, and I think Kindle has done that, and he’s an aggressive player and physical.”