Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, thought to be in a contract stalemate with the team but without official word from his camp, has broken his silence on the topic.
In comments to veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson, Gilmore made clear that he's indeed in conflict with the Patriots over his contract which, thanks to a pay advance last season, is set to only make $7 million this season.
"I just want what I'm worth, however that plays out. Every player should be paid what they're worth. That’s just how it is," he said.
Anderson said Gilmore told her he's not pushing for a trade.
“Hopefully we can find some common ground & get it situated. I just know what I bring to the table & my style of play. Right now I'm just trying to focus on myself & make sure I'm good mentally & physically.”
Gilmore relayed that he's almost fully recovered from his offseason quad surgery.
“I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt since the surgery. I’ve been running a lot, building full speed..”
Will he be 100 percent ready for camp?
“We’ll see; if I need to be. But I also don’t want to push it.”
BSJ ANALYSIS
Well, it's good to finally have someone from Gilmore's camp on the record about this, and nice work by Josina to get these comments.
Has anything changed?
I don't think so. The Patriots do not like to have their dirty laundry aired in public — as has happened twice this week with the N'Keal Harry trade request — but it's not unprecedented, and does not preclude a resolution that keeps Gilmore on the Patriots. In recent years, both Logan Mankins' agent and Vince Wilfork went public with their contract displeasure and it worked out for both sides.
I see that happening here again.
Like Mankins and Wilfork, Gilmore is integral to what the Patriots have planned this season. As I said last weekend, the more you look at the Bills and where they are, and what the Patriots have not done at the cornerback position this offseason — and the dearth of viable options on the open market — I don't know how Bill Belichick looks at his roster and thinks he can compete in the AFC East without Gilmore going head to head against Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley or Emmanuel Sanders.
But the injury component can't be overlooked. This isn't a normal contract squabble. The last the Patriots saw Gilmore on their own field, he sustained a serious quad tear that required surgery. And it's hard to glean exactly where Gilmore is in his rehab from his comments because he's biased — he wants to be as healthy as possible, or at least portray that he is.
Unless the Patriots are very, very generous, I don't see how this is resolved until Gilmore takes his Patriots camp physical and then the team goes from there. He's likely on PUP until he's 100 percent, then the team can see where he is and whether or not he's lost a step.
If all goes well, a multi-year extension is possible, but I think a Tom Brady-esque one-year deal with voidable years is smarter for both sides. Do the Patriots want to get locked into a 30-plus corner who may not be the same after surgery to the major leg muscle, at a position where everything is about the legs?