Any time a player holds out, it's fair to wonder if a trade is on the horizon. Well, Stephon Gilmore is currently holding out after skipping the New England Patriots' mandatory minicamp, and there have certainly been plenty of trade rumors involving the No. 1 cornerback in the past.
But it appears Gilmore, himself, is not expecting or demanding a trade.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on "SportsCenter" on Thursday that Gilmore still sees himself as part of the Patriots' plans, and that contract talks could pick up ahead of training camp later this month.
"The Patriots and Gilmore know they can intensify contract talks sometime in the next few weeks," Fowler said, as transcribed by Bleacher Report. "And I'm told that Gilmore has largely not expected to be traded throughout this process because he knows the Patriots have made moves with Gilmore in mind.
"They haven't gotten a cornerback to replace him. And as one source told me, 'Do the Patriots really want to go into Week 4 against Tom Brady without their top cornerback?' And so things are slow right now, but I expect those sides to ramp up negotiations sometime before training camp."
That lines up with a report a couple weeks ago from ESPN's Mike Reiss that things are not "acrimonious" between the two sides and that Gilmore "seems to enjoy being a Patriot" and "is open to sticking around."
Gilmore is set to make $7 million in base salary this season in the final year of his contract. Earlier this week, he tweeted, "Oh ok ..." in response to a list of the highest-paid corners in the NFL, a list he is no longer on.
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