Pats send curious message cutting ties with top corner
There are so many layers to unpack with Stephon Gilmore’s trade to the Carolina Panthers, and so many questions left to answer. First, are they already throwing a white flag up on the season by essentially dumping their lone bona fide shutdown corner? Because that’s certainly one message that can be construed from the move.
Maybe the powers that be don’t feel like they can make a run after a 1-3 start. The trouble with that theory is Bill Belichick isn’t the white flag type. Hard to see the Hoodie cashing in his chips and moving on to 2022 so quickly.
Seeing how J.C. Jackson and Co. handled Tom Brady’s weapons on Sunday night, doing a good job on
Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Antonio Brown, the Patriots must have felt they could get by with the inhouse group the rest of the way.
While Evans (seven catches for 75 yards), Brown (seven catches for 63 yards) and Godwin (three catches for 55 yards) weren’t completely shut down by Jackson, Jalen Mills and Jonathan Jones, they also didn’t do their usual damage. So that may have provided the impetus to cut ties with their star cornerback, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year. And Belichick, during his morning presser, backed that notion somewhat, by indicating he was pleased by the performance of the secondary: “We played the best passing game in the league last week and played that pretty competitively.” Obviously, adding Gilmore to the mix Week 7, and giving him a pay bump this year to make that happen, wouldn’t have hurt the cause. Assuming he was healthy, and there’s reason to believe he was, it would have enhanced the secondary and the Patriots chances to make the playoffs if he played in the final 11 games.
Bottom line: Not having Gilmore doesn’t make them better now or give them a better shot at the postseason.
The Patriots are tight against the cap. Perhaps they need the room — Gilmore’s release gives them roughly $6 million more in space — to add on in a greater area of need, be it the offensive line, which is now decimated by injury and COVID-19 issues, or the defensive front seven.
Maybe that was the motivation from Belichick’s end. Still, it doesn’t make much sense to spend over $160 million in guaranteed money during the offseason, and not pay the shutdown corner, or at least, get him on the field, if the plan is to get back into the playoffs after a 7-9 season.
If they believe Jackson is just as good, well, they’re walking down the same contract road with him, because he’s a free agent next year.
Are they going to pay him? Because as Ty Law suggested to the Herald last month, the way Jackson was playing, he’s going to be looking for top dollar, too.
“J.C. Jackson could very well play himself out of the market, depending on what the Patriots want to pay him,” Law said. “If you play this game long enough, you enjoy it, but you want to set yourself up financially. That’s what free agency is all about. Hopefully he stays and plays well enough, and gets paid top dollar to stay with the team.”
Maybe the Patriots didn’t believe Gilmore was healthy, not seeing him on the field actually competing, although he was certainly present and working out on a side field during training camp before being placed on the PUP list. Maybe that hindered their chances to make a more suitable trade.
Getting a 2023 sixth-round pick from Carolina isn’t very much in
the big picture. At least, it was something, because when news broke the two sides were parting, it seemed like the Patriots were content on getting nothing in return before the Panthers stepped up.
But make no mistake, this was largely about money. The Gilmore contract became an issue last year, and
when they gave him a bump to put a Band-Aid on the problem, the Patriots knew they would still have to address the situation this year. Only, it was never addressed, becoming a bone of contention between the player and the team.
Yes, he was headed out the door at the end of the season, but having him from Week 7 on would have been like adding a top player at the trade deadline.
What kind of message does that send the team?
Did Belichick feel a disgruntled Gilmore would be a distraction? Because many in the room, including Jackson, Jonathan Jones and Devin McCourty had great respect for the cornerback, and have voiced as much when asked.
Following practice, McCourty said he’s been around long enough to be “numb” when players leave. Players understand there’s no use dwelling on it. McCourty said guys just have to focus on what they have: “Being blatantly honest, it’s a business. If you want to keep your job, you better move on and keep playing at the level you’re playing at.”
From the Patriots’ perspective, handing over money to a 31-yearold player, it just wasn’t going to happen. Looking at how they’ve handled others with contract disputes in their 30s, well, it’s the rare exception if that player is kept.
Belichick, naturally, wouldn’t dive into any details when asked. He classified the move as a mutual parting, with both sides feeling that was best.
“Does he go by choice, does he get traded, does he get released, everyone has a different story,” Law said with respect to the Patriots letting players go early. “You’re probably going to end up somewhere else unless you take a massive pay cut. And (Stephon) ain’t going to do that.”
Basically, the Patriots didn’t blink. And neither did Gilmore.
So now he’s headed to Carolina, closer to home, having grown up in Rock Hill, S.C. The 3-1 Panthers are happy to add him to their secondary and make their own run at the playoffs.
The Patriots? In the end, you can just chalk it up to business as usual.
See Logan Mankins, Richard Seymour, Law and Brady for details.