Although the Stephon Gilmore-New England Patriots discussions appear to be at least a little contentious, the cornerback reportedly believes something ultimately will get done.
Gilmore is entering the final year of his deal, and is set to make significantly less money than he’s worth. That prompted him to hold out of OTAs and mandatory minicamp, and could extend into training camp if something doesn’t get done over the coming weeks.
With all of that in mind, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler indicated that talks could ramp up soon and Gilmore ultimately does not think he will be moved.
“The Patriots and Gilmore know they can intensify contract talks sometime in the next few weeks,” Fowler said on “SportsCenter,” as transcribed by Bleacher Report. “And I’m told that Gilmore has largely not expected to be traded throughout this process because he knows the Patriots have made moves with Gilmore in mind.
“They haven’t gotten a cornerback to replace him. And as one source told me, ‘Do the Patriots really want to go into Week 4 against Tom Brady without their top cornerback?’ And so things are slow right now, but I expect those sides to ramp up negotiations sometime before training camp.”
If something doesn’t get done/the Patriots don’t want to pay Gilmore what he’s worth or meet somewhere in the middle, pretty much the only option they’ll have left is to trade him. That’s probably the worst-case scenario for New England, but until something is done, it can’t be ruled out.
