Stephon Gilmore Update: Veteran CB May Sit Out For Rest Of Training Camp, Entire Preseason
BOSTON (CBS) -- Unhappy with his contract situation, Stephon Gilmore is currently on the physically unable to perform list. He may remain there for a while.
Speaking before Thursday night's preseason opener on NBC Sports Boston, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer speculated that Gilmore might not play much football at all before the regular season begins. Breer said that the holdout-but-not-a-holdout works to Gilmore's advantage.
"I could see him sitting out all of camp, and maybe going into the season without a lot of practice action or any game action at all. It'd be surprising at this point if he played in any of the preseason games," Breer said. "That's to the detriment of the Patriots, and that's sort of Steph's leverage here, [saying], 'You spent all of that money in free agency, a record amount of guaranteed money, and yet your best player isn't out there for camp, he isn't out there for team building during preseason games.' And so I think that that's a piece of Stephon Gilmore's leverage here -- if you're spending that much money in free agency, you're not waiting to win for two or three years. You want to win right now. And what would undermine that? What would undermine that is if you don't have your best player in position to perform at his best."
Breer added: "And so, every day that passes, you're putting Steph Gilmore at less of a position to be at his best. And oh by the way, if they don't take care of him monetarily, you've gotta worry about his mindset going into the season as well. ... If you don't have Steph at [his] best, I think corner goes from being a position of strength to being one that you have some serious questions at."
The Patriots slid $5 million from Gilmore's 2021 salary to his 2020 salary, effectively advancing him that cash to adjust his contract after he was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. He missed five games last season due to a midseason knee injury and a late-season quadriceps injury that required surgery.
Gilmore is on the PUP list, presumably as he rehabs from last season's surgery. But reporting like Breer's indicates that Gilmore may well be healthy enough to play soon -- if he's not already.
