Just In: Details Emerge From Patriots Plan With Stephon Gilmore

The New England Patriots had veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore on the field for a few seasons. He helped the team win a lot of games. Gilmore was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. In other words, the Patriots need him around for a while.

The Patriots and Gilmore’s camp have been really quiet about the situation in the past few weeks. ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler have shared a lot of updates on the contract dispute. It looks like we have an update on Gilmore’s situation with the team.

Patriots may not trade Stephon Gilmore

Fowler appeared on SportsCenter last week and talked about the negotiations between the cornerback and the team. According to him negotiations will become more intense before training camp.

“The Patriots and Gilmore know they can intensify contract talks sometime in the next few weeks. 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,” Fowler said. “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.”

Well, Fowler made a lot of people ask questions.

On Thursday afternoon, Fowler said that the cornerback and the Patriots will sit down before training camp to discuss their deal. Will they reach an agreement?

Fowler said that the cornerback’s trade market hasn’t been robust because the Patriots didn’t do enough to shore up the depth chart at this position. New England can’t afford to trade the cornerback right now.

Per @JFowlerESPN on SportsCenter:

The Patriots and Stephon Gilmore plan to sit down before training camp and potentially hammer out a deal. There hasn't been any trade traction around the league, because the Patriots didn't do enough to shore up the CB position.

— Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis) July 8, 2021

Gilmore struggled to stay healthy in 2020. He suffered injuries and missed a lot of time.

In 2019, the cornerback had 53 tackles and six interceptions. If New England gives him a new deal, they will try to get the same production in September. Let’s see what happens this summer. Gilmore may miss training camp again.