At a time when teams routinely leak news of an impending release before actually doing it in order to create an eleventh-hour trade market, the Patriots apparently are trying to do just that with cornerback Stephon Gilmore.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that the Patriots leaked the news early in an effort to “smoke out” potential trade offers.
Breer also reports that the Patriots shopped Gilmore on Monday “to a small group of teams they trust.” However, between the Patriots’ asking price and Gilmore’s desire for a new deal, it didn’t happen.
It can still happen by 4:00 p.m. ET today. To the extent that a bidding war may emerge for his services if/when he becomes a free agent, there’s value in trying to work things out before he’s free and clear -- as long as his pre-release expectations loosely match his post-release market.