Thanks to his placement on PUP to open the 2021 NFL season, we already know that former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore won’t play for the Patriots for the first six weeks of the year.
According to a report from ESPN (subscription), Gilmore may actually end up playing for a different NFL team when he does eventually get on the field this fall.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano writes, in a piece entitled “Predicting potential surprises for all 32 NFL teams,” not to be surprised if “the Saints end up with Stephon Gilmore after all.”
In explaining the possible trade to New Orleans, Graziano notes the Patriots remain “open” to trading Gilmore, who missed the entire offseason due to a quad injury but has also made it quite clear that he wants a new contract. Gilmore is currently in the final season of the five-year, $65 million contract that brought him to New England as a free agent from Buffalo in 2017. He’s scheduled to earn a salary of just $7 million this fall, well below the market value for elite cornerbacks.
“As of this past week, the Patriots were still open to the idea of trading Gilmore, who now has to miss the first six weeks on the physically unable to perform list,” Graziano writes. “Gilmore is known to be unhappy with his contract, which is up after the season. While there was optimism a month or so ago that he and the Patriots would get something worked out, they still have not.
“The Saints have a need at the position and high enough hopes for this year that you can't rule out them making the move for the missing piece if they still have a need as we get closer to the trade deadline.
These teams have done high-profile deals before.”
Bill Belichick’s Patriots and Sean Payton’s Saints have indeed had a strong working relationship in the past.
With Gilmore out of the mix for at least six weeks, the New England cornerback spot faces significant uncertainty. Heading into a contract year, fourth-year vet J.C. Jackson bumps up to the No. 1 role, one that he played to mixed results down the stretch a year ago with Gilmore sidelined due to injury.
The No. 2 cornerback role generally held by Jackson is more tenuous. Versatile free agent newcomer Jalen Mills struggled in practice and preseason action in that spot. Joejuan Williams has yet to prove himself capable as a third-year former second-round pick. And the Patriots traded for former Ravens five-round pick Shaun Wade to add to the mix late in August.
While Gilmore won’t be available for the Patriot for at least six weeks, according to ESPN his future in Foxborough is now even more uncertain than that.
