“Yeah, let’s just keep taking it day by day.”
That was Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick’s response on Monday when asked about Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s rehab and if the key defensive cog might be on the practice field soon.
While Belichick was seemingly answering the question based completely on health – Gilmore opened training camp on PUP due to the quad injury that landed him on IR late last season and required offseason surgery – we all know that health isn’t the only issue surrounding the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Gilmore skipped OTAs and minicamp in a contract holdout.
He’s in the final season of the five-year, $65 million contract that initially landed him in New England back in 2017. Still one of the top cornerbacks in the game, even as he is set to turn 31, Gilmore is slated to earn just $7 million in 2021.
By all accounts and reports the veteran defender is not willing to pay for that number this fall. Some reports have even indicated he wants a Darius Slay-like extension – something in the range of three years and $50 million.
NFLN has reported that Gilmore is open to a simple restructure and bump in compensation for 2021, a short-term Band-Aid that would seem to be most palatable for the rebuilt Patriots.
But what would that new money look like? Is it $5 million plus incentives?
Would it be more like $7 million to get him in line with what many of the top cornerbacks are earning?
By giving up his leverage and settling for a one-year adjustment, might Gilmore be expecting something even more, say $8 or $10 million in new money for 2021?
Could Gilmore – who many thought would be traded at either the mid-season deadline last fall or during the lead up to the NFL Draft this spring – still be traded out of New England if the contract impasse continues?
This was the discussion that broke out during the most recent edition of WEEI’s Off Day Podcast.
While Gilmore is quietly going about his rehab work, sometimes on the lower practice field behind Gillette Stadium while the rest of his teammates are hard at work in training camp sessions a few hundred yards away, his future with the team remains uncertain at best.
Heck, no one knows if or when Gilmore will join the practice fun or whether or not he’ll even be a member of the team when it takes the Gillette turf for the Sept 12 season opener against the Dolphins.
One thing that is for sure, the conclusion of Gilmore’s contract holdout/hold-in/negotiation will have a dramatic effect on the Patriots defense and overall hopes for team success in 2021. That’s not even debatable.
Many have concluded that the standoff between Belichick’s Patriots and the team’s best player have remained amicable. That things haven’t gotten contentious. But nothing has been resolved, either, and the sides are running out of time as training camp action is picking up and regular season action is drawing nearer by the day.
Will Belichick pay up? Will Gilmore dig in? Does he have to prove he’s healthy before any bump in pay can occur? Could one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL still be traded and if so, what would New England be able to get in return?
There are more questions than answers regarding Gilmore’s status with the Patriots and time is running out on finding answers to those questions.
Right now Gilmore and the Patriots are seemingly living like John Rambo this summer – day by day. And that, is not necessarily a successful long term plan for either side.
For the most recent Off Day Podcast from WEEI -- including the discussion on Gilmore and his future in Foxborough as well as a breakdown of all the action from the first five practices of Patriots training camp -- click here.
