1:59pm: Gilmore would lose one regular-season game check (worth $652K) for every preseason contest missed, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. If he were to hold out all of August, it would cost him over $3MM – roughly $750K in daily camp fines and $2.6MM in preseason game fines (Twitter links).
9:02am: Bills general manager Doug Whaley indicated in February that the team was prioritizing an extension for cornerback Stephon Gilmore, but nearly five months have passed and the two sides aren’t progressing toward a new deal. As a result, Gilmore is a threat to hold out this summer and perhaps into the regular season, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Gilmore already sat out voluntary OTAs in May, and the 25-year-old said at mandatory minicamp in June that he’d report to training camp “whenever I get there.”
Gilmore would like a contract similar to the five-year, $75MM pact Josh Norman inked with the Redskins in April, per Carucci, who writes that the Bills aren’t ready to approach that type of compensation for their 2012 first-round pick. Norman is currently among the league’s top two cornerbacks in average annual value ($15MM, first), total guarantees ($50MM, first) and guaranteed money at signing ($36.5MM, second), but with the cap rising and prices for corners increasing, those rankings might not last long.
Whether it’s from the Bills or someone else, Gilmore has a case to approach Norman’s deal – especially given that he’s three years younger. And while the ex-South Carolina standout has missed 11 games since 2013, he has nonetheless been a stalwart for Buffalo. The 10th overall selection in his draft class, Gilmore has logged 53 appearances, 51 starts and nine interceptions since entering the NFL. Three of those INTs came last season in 12 games for Gilmore, whom Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked a tremendous ninth among 111 qualifying corners (Norman, by the way, finished 11th).
If the Bills and Gilmore are unable to reach a deal this summer, he’ll play out this season on his $11.082MM fifth-year option. But holding out of camp would put a dent in the bank account of Gilmore, who would lose $40K per day.
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