Bedard: If you think the Patriots just 'did right' by Stephon Gilmore, you're living in fantasyland

There are two absolutes in the NFL.

There is no charity.

And Bill Belichick doesn't give out raises without getting something in return.

So if you saw that Stephon Gilmore received an extra $5 million, which could be worth $7.5 million with incentives according to a league source, on Friday and your first instinct was to say, "Man, it's really great the Patriots decided to reward Gilmore," then you're living in football fantasyland.

Not hating on Belichick for doing it. Have no issue with Gilmore and his agent playing the game.

In the words of The Wire: "The game is the game."

Or.



But Belichick didn't just wake up on Friday and decided, "You know what, Steph is really underpaid being the 12th highest paid cornerback in the league and we should do right by him even though he was already the highest-paid player on our team and we made him one of the best-paid cornerbacks in 2017 when he hadn't really done much with the Bills."

The NFL does not work like that. Belichick certainly does not work like that.

Rob Gronkowski, who constantly complained about his contract behind the scenes, only got incentives added to his contract in 2017 and 2018.

Tom Brady, who was stuck with incentives in 2018, received an additional $8 million and the ability to leave after the season in 2019, only because he quietly told the Patriots he wasn't getting on the plane to Detroit for joint practices without a new deal.

Now, a year later, Gilmore gets a $5 million bump out of thin air.

What, because a few cornerbacks (Jalen Ramsey, Tre'Davious White) received big contract extensions this offseason?

You know what Belichick would normally say to an agent who came looking for some more money without giving back something to the team?

"Tough. Shouldn't have signed for so many years when we gave you that big lump sum when you were a nobody in Buffalo."

Is that harsh? Not really. It's show business, not show friends. And if you're thinking the Patriots made an exception here because Gilmore was coming off a Defensive Player Of The Year season, think again.

Maybe you also believe Deion Branch and Richard Seymour were traded solely because the Patriots believed they had better and cheaper internal options.

I mean, Gronkowski put together a Hall of Fame career and he is still on, pretty much, the same 8-year deal he signed with the Patriots in 2012. We warned at the time that Gronkowski was giving up all his leverage with a club option in the middle to get more money sooner. Guess what? Outside of those incentives, Belichick kept Gronkowski on the same deal.

Now, suddenly, with two years left on his megadeal, Gilmore gets $5 million for nothing.

That never happens.

This came, curiously, after Gilmore mysteriously missed four days of training camp. Belichick said it was excused. Gilmore said it was personal and denied it had anything to do with his contract.

"Everything’s good," Gilmore said after returning to the team. "Had something come up that, you know, is personal reasons, so I told coach about it and we’ll leave it at that."

Pressed on the contract after returning to the team, Gilmore said: "It wasn’t because of that. I had something come up and I had to deal with it, so it wasn’t for that reason. So it wasn’t for that reason."

It's great Gilmore said that. But several league sources are not buying it.

"If you want something from the Patriots, don't do it publicly," one said. "(Jason) Chayut (Gilmore's agent) is very good. This smells like a threatened holdout or something similar. That they've denied it or aren't claiming it now, that's smart. Keep the Patriots happy."

"Charity is not part of the NFL vocabulary," said another.

This bump in pay also came one day after Gilmore was limited in practice Thursday with a hamstring. After the deal was announced, Gilmore's hamstring was so healthy it was completely removed from the injury report.

Make what you want about this. You can deny the Patriots' history with players under contract and believe at age 68, that Belichick has gotten a little kinder and gentler. That's fine.

I know what I believe, and I know how the game is played. This was Gilmore playing hardball with the Patriots and winning. Good for him.

Just don't be hypocritical about it. Don't applaud the Patriots for paying a well-paid player even more money, then say the Patriots shouldn't do anything about Cam Newton's embarrassing contract because he signed that deal and should live up to it.

You can't have it both ways.

Newton, who has won the Patriots' QB job going away and was elected team captain (an honor never bestowed on Gilmore for all that money) in his first year with the team, ranks 48th in AAV among quarterbacks.

The backup quarterbacks making more than Newton:

Taysom Hill $10,500,000
Marcus Mariota $8,800,000
Nick Foles $8,000,000
Justin Herbert $6,644,689
Case Keenum $6,000,000
Chase Daniel $4,350,000
A.J. McCarron $4,000,000
Andy Dalton $3,000,000
Jeff Driskel $2,500,000
Colt McCoy $2,250,000
Robert Griffin III $2,000,000
Matt Barkley $2,000,000
Matt Schaub $1,890,000
Cam Newton $1,750,000

So congrats to Gilmore for playing the game. No issues with the Patriots playing ball.

But do right by Newton. This Gilmore bump makes that look even worse.

OLSZEWSKI OUT FOR SUNDAY

In addition to Gilmore's healing hamstring, the Patriots revealed their final injury report for Sunday.

Out: WR Gunner Olszewski (foot), OT Yodny Cajuste (knee).

Questionable: N'Keal Harry (shoulder), TE Dalton Keene (neck), LB Cassh Malua (knee), DL Chase Winovich (shoulder).

Dolphins are fully healthy.

Olszewski's absence makes it likely Devin Ross will be promoted. As far as punt returns, Damiere Byrd, Rex Burkhead, Kyle Dugger and JJ Taylor are all candidates.