There might not be a position for the New England Patriots that's so consistently good every single season more than the cornerback position. Ever since their days in the American Football League, the Patriots have always seemed to have a shutdown cornerback.

That trend has carried over to the present day, as Christian Gonzalez has cemented himsrlf as the latest addition to the shutdown cornerback lineage. But still, there's one thing that makes him stand out from the rest ... and it's drawn some jokes from another member of that cornerback fraternity.

Ty Law, arguably the greatest Patriots cornerback of all time and a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, kicked off the team's unofficial theme of the top cornerback wearing No. 24. Since Law donned the number as the Patriot's first round draft choice in 1995, Super Bowl champions Darrelle Revis (2014) and Stephon Gilmore (2017-2020) also wore it.

It's become part of the fabric of New England. Instead of retiring the number for Law, the Patriots have had it passed on. But Gonzalez — who certainly could stack up — blazed his own path, choosing No. 0 as his jersey in 2024.

That drew some jokes from Law this week.

Ty Law Wishes No. 24 Lineage Continued

On the fourth episode of "Forged in Foxborough," Law spoke about Gonzalez — who was seen signing his record-setting four-year, $135 million contract extension — and his choice of uniform numbers.

"Because of the success that I had with the number, 24, everybody's always gonna compare to me," said Law, who was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2014.

"Then you had Darrelle Revis. He come in, 24. Super Bowl. Then you got Stephon Gilmore, 24. We were all those type of corners and we just happened to all be wearing the same number. Christian Gonzalez, yeah, he broke the rule dammit, you supposed to be wearing 24 Christian."

Gonzalez's career has been filled with a lot of uniform numbers. After being assigned No. 50 during his first training camp, he donned No. 19 in the preseason. Then the regular season hit, and he wore No. 6 for the first few games of his career.

He would miss most of the season with a torn labrum, and then become the first Patriots player ever to wear No. 0 the following year. When Gonzalez was drafted in 2023, Joshuah Bledsoe was wearing No. 24. He'd be released the following summer and undrafted rookie Dell Pettus would end up taking it (he's still wearing it to this day).

Gonzalez's Uniform Starts A New Legacy

"He's making his name on his own right being the same type of player," Law continued. "Outside of Christian not wearing 24, that's a bad boy. He's gon' start his own thing."

Gonzalez has been off to a great start to his 2026 season, playing in five games and racking up 15 tackles and five pass breakups. He's yet to grab his first interception, but limited stars Jaxon Smith-Njigba and D.K. Metcalf in his matchups against them.

He's been a major part of a Patriots defense that's been the best part of the team seven weeks in. His contract extension, the largest in franchise history, got done before Week 1 in Seattle — helping set the tone for how the team wants to lock down their homegrown talents.

"We're excited to have him for hopefully a long time," head coach Mike Vrabel said.

Law, Revis and Gilmore all won Super Bowls with the Patriots, and now it's up to Gonzalez to join that elite group — this time with his own uniform number.