Something is going to happen with Stephon Gilmore before the start of next season.
The cornerback is currently scheduled to make $7 million in the final year of his contract, which seems very unlikely to actually play out.
Going into the offseason, the thought was the Patriots would look to trade the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and the new team would sign him to a new contract.
But, after the Patriots made so many moves at the start of free agency and drastically made their team better, perhaps the best thing for the Patriots to do is to extend Gilmore so he's part of their plans for the next few seasons.
According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Gilmore "would be very open to signing a new deal in New England."
Since the Patriots are now likely a playoff contender, having Gilmore on their roster makes more sense than it did a year ago when they were a 7-9 team missing the playoffs. Breer also notes it may be harder to trade Gilmore following his quad injury at the end of last season.
We'll see how it all plays out, but there appears to be a shift in the narrative with Gilmore that now it makes more sense for him to remain with the Patriots.
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