Carlton Davis has already logged 89 games across his seven-year NFL career. But the Patriots’ new free-agent signing has a habit of studying the tape of young cornerbacks coming into the league to assess future competition. As such, the 28-year-old corner is already a big fan of his new teammate in Christian Gonzalez. “I’m excited, man. I’m excited. He’s a young, great player. I’ve watched his film even when he was coming out of college,” Davis said of Gonzalez. “I always do a little background check of the corners coming into the league. I guess it’s a competitive thing. I liked his film. He’s long, rangy. He’s got good ball skills.” Gonzalez is already one of the best young corners in the NFL, with the 22-year-old earning Second Team All-Pro honors during the 2024 season after holding his own against some of the top wideouts in the league. And with another solid corner in Davis now in place after inking a three-year, $60 million contract with New England, Mike Vrabel believes that New England’s revamped secondary has the means to negate playmakers on just about every snap. “Hopefully we can just play cat coverage — ‘You’ve got this cat, I’ve got this cat. And we can go to work,’” Vrabel said of Gonzalez and Davis working in tandem. “I would say the thing I appreciate about watching CD is they might catch a ball on him, but he just lines back up and he competes and he challenges. “He tries to play aggressive that’s a play style we embrace. Corners, that’s a tough position in the National Football League.” While both Gonzalez (two interceptions in 2024) and Davis (two interceptions) aren’t necessarily ball-hawking corners, both defensive backs are graded highly for sticking to opposing pass-catchers in coverage. PFF had Gonzalez ranked 17th out of 223 eligible cornerbacks last season with a 78.2 coverage grade, while Davis’ 72.1 coverage grade was 38th out of that sizable pool of talent. While New England still has plenty of work to do when it comes to bolstering their roster on both sides of the ball, Davis believes that both he and Gonzalez should elevate their respective games now that they’re on the same cornerback corps. “He had a really good year last year in my opinion. I didn’t watch too many Patriots tapes but what I see on the highlights, looked like he was playing good ball,” Davis said of Gonzalez. “I’m always eager to matchup or just kind of team up with guys who have similar skillset of me. “They can push me in practice. I can push them in practice. It’s always iron sharpens iron. I’m excited about that. Excited to practice with him, get to know him a little bit, pick his brain, and see how we can help each other grow.”