The New England Patriots are moving on from Stephon Gilmore. After news of the Patriots’ plans to part ways with Gilmore broke this morning, the Carolina Panthers emerged as a trade partner and agreed to send a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Patriots in exchange for the star cornerback.
In a statement, Bill Belichick said, “I am grateful to Stephon Gilmore for his significant contributions to our team. It was a privilege and pleasure to coach Steph, I appreciate him for the true professional and class act that he is and wish him all the best in the future. Following discussions over a long period of time, we mutually agreed to part ways today.”
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Belichick didn’t expand much further in his Wednesday news conference.
How the Patriots and Gilmore got to this point is the type of story that has played out repeatedly in New England. A veteran wants more money than Belichick is willing to pay, and Belichick decides to move on early rather than sink money into a player on the back end of his career. Gilmore is also coming off a torn quad, which added to the risk of investing in a 31-year old cornerback.
There’s no question adding Gilmore — who’s been on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list since the season began — would have made this secondary better. He was the best defensive player in football two seasons ago. Age and the quad injury may have prevented him from being the same player, but he still had enough to give this defense another boost. After spending $160 million in guaranteed money in the spring, it stands to reason the Patriots could have afforded to make Gilmore happy with a raise. They also could have seen this situation coming and tried to get more of an asset in return for Gilmore, but his injury complicated that.
What became clear is the Patriots and Gilmore weren’t going to find a resolution that extended beyond 2021. The team is off to 1-3 start, strapped for short-term cap space and was getting enough out of its secondary to feel comfortable moving on from Gilmore.
“We played the best passing game in the league and played that pretty competitively,” Belichick said Wednesday.
New England’s secondary has shown through the first four weeks that it can handle life without him. The Patriots’ pass defense is second in Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Average metric. They’ve held opposing quarterbacks to a 67.6 passer rating, second to only the Buffalo Bills. The four-interception performance against Zach Wilson boosted those numbers, but the pass defense showed its worth Sunday night, limiting Tom Brady to a 51 percent completion rate, his worst as a member of the Buccaneers. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass for just the second time in the last two seasons.
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In the short term, J.C. Jackson looks capable of being a No. 1 cornerback. Brady attacked him repeatedly Sunday night, particularly early, but Jackson collected himself to hold Mike Evans to two catches for 20 yards in the second half. He has 19 interceptions since entering the league, including two this season and nine a year ago. He is in the final year of his contract, though, and his play could help him command a top-end deal.
Earlier this year, Belichick was complimentary of Jackson’s development.
“I think each year J.C. gets a little bit more aware,” Belichick said. “A little better understanding of how to use his help, and you know, when to be aggressive and use his help and when not to. When he doesn’t have any, he has to play things a little more honest, but you know, take advantage of the keys and the defense and the leverage that we have to try to get closer to the receiver. His run force has improved. His tackling has improved, and there’s still things for him to work on, but he’s consistently gotten better over each of the four years.”
Opposite Jackson, Jalen Mills has been a steady No. 2 cornerback through four weeks. He was the team’s highest-graded defensive back Sunday night, limiting Chris Godwin to three catches for 55 yards. The Patriots have him under contract for four years, and he could be a bargain if he continues to play well. Belichick was complimentary of Mills following the release of Gilmore.
“It goes all the way back to the spring,” Belichick said. “Jalen has been one of our more consistent players, worked really hard in the spring. It’s a new system. A lot different than what they did in Philly. He’s played all the positions in the secondary, literally every single one … He’s shown a lot of versatility. Very competitive player that has a good skill set and can do a lot of things. It was a tough matchup for him last week, and I thought he competed well against Godwin.”
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Jonathan Jones has also held his own as the team’s slot cornerback. The Patriots also have three quality safeties in Devin McCourty, Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger. Those four players allow the Patriots to play a variety of coverages and formations to keep quarterbacks off balance. All of that secondary talent along with a pass rush that has been one of the best in football gives the Patriots the personnel to handle moving on from Gilmore.
The trouble for the Patriots could come if either Jackson or Mills gets injured. They don’t have much depth behind those two on the boundary. Joejuan Williams, a second-round pick in 2019, was a healthy scratch against the Buccaneers, and rookie Shaun Wade has been a healthy scratch all season.
The focus now is whether the Patriots can stabilize the cornerback position beyond this season. That could mean a long-term deal for Jackson or adding another cornerback next offseason. Development from within would certainly help their cause as well. These are questions the team was going to have to answer whether Gilmore played for them or not, given his age and contract situation. But in the short term, the Patriots seem equipped to handle life without Gilmore.
(Photo of Jalen Mills, left, and J.C. Jackson: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)