NFL Writer Offers Take On Stephon Gilmore, Patriots Contract Standoff

NFL analysts still discuss Stephon Gilmore, his situation with the New England Patriots, and the potential contract with the team. Head coach Bill Belichick and the veteran cornerback are in a staring contest, and the Patriots general manager might not have the leverage.

Gilmore is unhappy with his situation. He expressed his frustration on Twitter last week. The veteran cornerback is under team control for the 2021 season. He is set to earn $7 million. Yes, Gilmore is worth more than that. The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year skipped OTAs and minicamp earlier this month.

Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated knows a lot about the Patriots and shared his opinion of the recent and future events.

“If you’re going to mess around with Gilmore it sort of undermines everything else you have done,” Breer told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich” on Friday. “And I don’t know how at that point you go to your boss, and Bill Belichick has a boss like everybody else, and say, ‘Yeah, I spent 160 million guaranteed this offseason — set a new record for the league, not for the Patriots, for the league, in guaranteed money spent in free agency — and we’re going to play hardball with our best player. And that?s Gilmore’s leverage.”

Stephon Gilmore to join the Patriots for another season with a better contract

Breer also said that the Patriots could have predicted this after giving Gilmore a “cash advance” ahead of the 2020 season. His base salary is $7 million and Gilmore wants more than that.

Jeremy Fowler from ESPN said Thursday how negotiations between the Patriots and Gilmore may take place in the upcoming period. Mike Giardi from NFL Media believes that the cornerback will start in Week 1. Mike Reiss from ESPN says the two parties are in a good place at the moment.

The only thing we can do right now is wait and see what happens next. Gilmore is an excellent fit for the team and Belichick would love to keep him around for a while. But, he is aging and there are a few serious injuries in his resume.