The New England Patriots engaged in trade talks involving cornerback Stephon Gilmore during the 2020 offseason, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
Gilmore received a $5 million raise on Friday, according to multiple reports. He also took an excused absence for three days during training camp, which the cornerback chalked up to “personal reasons.”
Gilmore won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019, and was probably the best cornerback in the NFL. He signed a five-year, $65 million contract in 2017, and had been set to earn $10.5 million in salary in 2020 before his raise bumped him to $15 million.
The Patriots had previously restructured his contract on a few occasions to give him addition signing bonus money to decrease his salary for cap reasons.
.@AlbertBreer just said on @NBCSBoston there were trade talks involving Stephon Gilmore this offseason
— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) September 13, 2020
It will be interesting to see if New England continues to explore Gilmore’s trade market. He is probably off the market, now that New England gave him the pay bump. But anything is possible under Bill Belichick’s leadership.
