BACKED INTO A CORNER

Pats have tough choice to make with Gilmore

Stephon Gilmore is a stud at arguably the most important position on an NFL defense. Bona fide shutdown corners like him don’t come around quite as often as playoff appearances by Tom Brady. The Patriots, however, have to make a decision on what to do with Gilmore, who is in the final year of his five-year, $65 million deal.

Currently, Gilmore is scheduled to make $7 million next season, but he also carries a sizable $16.262 million cap hit, per Over The Cap.

So, should they keep him at the risk of losing him for nothing next year, extend him to lower his 2021 cap hit or trade him?

All of those scenarios are on the table as the Patriots sink their teeth into an offseason like few others on Bill Belichick’s watch. The Hoodie needs to revamp and revitalize a team that didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons.

What ultimately happens with Gilmore should help set the course for the 2021 season and beyond.

The veteran corner turns 31 in September. He’s coming off a season where he missed five games due to injury and COVID-19, and wasn’t quite the same player as the previous year, when he won Defensive Player of the Year.

Still, Gilmore remains among the best at his position. And, in that context, he’s the Patriots’ best trade chip.

While the first inclination would be to extend his contract, especially if the Pats plan on a quick rebuild, Gilmore’s greatest value might be as a trade piece to help acquire the most important piece of that turnaround — a quarterback.

By trading Gilmore, perhaps the Patriots can gain enough assets to help them move up in the draft and land a player they feel will be their next franchise quarterback. Or, maybe he’s part of a deal to acquire said quarterback. In that context, dealing Gilmore makes sense.

The quarterback is that important.

At least, that’s one scenario worth entertaining a trade for him. And, in my view, the only one.

Other scenarios aren’t as appealing, when considering the downside of losing their best defensive player a year before hitting free agency.

While the gain in cap space would be around $7.3 million according to Over The Cap, the Patriots would also assume $8.9 million in dead money. So that has to be weighed in, as well.

The point here is not to dump him for the sake of dumping him and his contract. There needs to be a method behind the madness.

Landing a quarterback is the best reason.

Outside of that, keeping Gilmore is an important part of the Patriots solution going forward.

SiriusXM NFL analyst

Solomon Wilcots agreed that outside of using Gilmore in some capacity to land a quarterback, the Patriots shouldn’t be in a rush to deal him.

“The Patriots can not play their defense without having someone like Stephon Gilmore,” said Wilcots. “He’s the lynchpin to everything they do. It’s not the edge rusher, not the Mike linebacker. It’s him.”

As we saw last season,

J.C. Jackson isn’t quite ready for that role. He’s a terrific No. 2 corner, but has a way to go to hit lead status.

Even with his above-average coverage grade — 72.2 according to Pro

Football Focus — and 17 picks over three seasons, he had some difficulties taking over the top role when Gilmore didn’t play.

Stefon Diggs roughed up Jackson pretty good in Week 15 when the Patriots got smashed by the Bills. Hall of Fame corner Ty Law told me in November replacing Gilmore would be a tall order.

“You can’t expect Jackson or anyone to go out there and do the same things Stephon Gilmore does. Those are big shoes to fill,” said Law. “There’s not a lot of people that can play one-on-one like him. That’s not a plug-and-play position. He is who he is. He’s a special talent. “J.C. is not there yet,” Law went on. “He’s a solid, young cornerback. You can’t put him in the same category as Stephon. That’s unfair to him.” It’s possible the Patriots could draft a future shutdown corner to help mitigate the loss of Gilmore. Or

Jackson will ultimately take the next step and grow into the position. Recently, Cleveland was mentioned as a possible landing spot for Gilmore in a trade. But if they’re only getting pennies on the dollar, it doesn’t make sense to move him. In November, it didn’t seem like the Patriots would be willing to settle. According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, teams inquiring about Gilmore last year were told the cost for the four-time Pro Bowler would be a firstround pick and a player. Translation: It’s going to take a ransom to move him. While it seems almost inevitable the two sides will part once Gilmore gets to free agency in 2022, the Patriots would still get a compensatory pick if they choose to hold onto him this season. Gilmore naturally wants to get paid, and wants one more big payday. Playing for $7 million this season probably won’t sit well. As it was, he got a raise last year, but it came at the expense of his 2021 pay.

In January, Gilmore tweeted: “2021 will be an interesting year.”

Then after a brief absence from Twitter, came back with another cryptic tweet this month: “If I didn’t sacrifice I wouldn’t be where I’m at now so I’m going to keep sacrificing.”

The question is where that will ultimately turn out to be.

Law, who was released in 2005 given his cap charge of $12.5 million, didn’t want to draw parallels to Gilmore. He just classified it as a business decision on both sides. “(The Patriots) do their business a certain way, and Stephon has to do business for himself. Hopefully they’ll find a way to get it done and see the value in him,” said Law. “But it depends if they’re in rebuild mode, or they’re trying to catch another championship. I think that’ll determine a lot, as far as what happens with Stephon whether they sign him to a new contract or trade him.” Wilcots agreed. “He still has the ability. That guy was the Defensive Player of the Year a year ago,” Wilcots said. “He has been that, and can still be that, so what are we doing? Is everything about saving money? If you plan on winning this year, you’re not going to win without that position.”