Tuesday will be a big day for the Patriots when it comes to Stephon Gilmore's situation.
The cornerback is currently on PUP as he works his way back from a quad injury suffered at the end of last year, but it also seems like his contract is keeping him off the field. He's due to make $7 million in the final year of his deal and he would like to be paid more.
If the corner remains on PUP after Tuesday, he has to miss at least the first six weeks of the season. If he's added to the 53-man roster, which needs to be set by Tuesday afternoon, he can return at any time.
Appearing on The Greg Hill Show Monday morning, Bill Belichick gave an update on where things stand.
“We’ll just keep working through it every day," he said. "He’s been [at the stadium] the last two days and has continued to work hard on his rehab. We’ll check in today and see how that’s going — see what kind of progress we’re making and then go from there. I’d say it’s really pretty much like everything — follow it day-by-day and see how it goes. And based on the results of yesterday and how things are today and the general plan that we have, it’s either follow that plan or modify that plan a little bit based on the most recent information.”
A few hours later on a video conference with reporters, Belichick was asked directly about Gilmore starting on the 53-man roster or PUP.
“Again, we have a lot of roster decisions to make and some of those are intertwined and some of the rules have changed from what they have been in the past," he said. "So, what we’ve done in a different year at a different point in time may or may not be relevant now. We’ll just take a look at everything and continue to evaluate Steph day-by-day, as we’ve done, and as he’s done, and work to get better. We have several players in a similar situation and we’ll get the most up-to-date information we can and try and make the best decision we can for our football team.”
The summer has shown the Patriots do not have much depth at the cornerback position behind JC Jackson, so getting Gilmore on the field would be very beneficial.