Cornerback Stephon Gilmore was seen as a trade candidate heading into last year’s deadline and discussion of a possible deal extended into this offseason, but he remains a member of the Patriots with March coming to an end.
While that doesn’t mean that Gilmore will be in New England once we hit September, the way the Patriots’ offseason has gone may open the door to other possibilities if they don’t want to keep him at a cap hit of more than $15.8 million. Albert Breer of SI.com reports Gilmore is “very open” to a contract extension with the team and that would lower the cap hit for the coming year.
There’s no word of the Patriots’ thoughts, but Breer notes that Gilmore’s torn quad last year may make it harder to find the trade value that the team would want. He also notes that their free agent haul and the return of linebacker Dont’a Hightower give the team a better chance of contending.
A healthy Gilmore would likely boost those chances even more and that may lead to a change in thinking about the corner’s future with the Patriots.