Cornerback Stephon Gilmore is playing with his fourth team after a short stint in Carolina. He started in Buffalo before signing with the Patriots. New England traded the two-time All-Pro midseason for only a sixth-round draft pick in return. Gilmore was injured at the time, but the compensation the Patriots received never made a ton of sense. Recently, though, Gilmore elaborated on the situation that deteriorated in New England, according to Stephen Holder of ESPN.
At the peak of his career, Gilmore suffered a torn quadriceps in the 2020 season. The injury kept him on the Patriots’ reserve/physically unable to perform list to start the 2021 season and, during that time, the relationship between Gilmore and New England “reached a point of no return.”
“I just didn’t like how they handled my situation, my injury,” Gilmore told reporters. “The situation just, I don’t know, wasn’t right for both sides.”
Here are a few more rumors from around the AFC, starting with a couple position battle victories in the AFC South:
- In a bit of a surprise decision, it appears that veteran offensive tackle Matt Pryor has won the left tackle job in Indianapolis over rookie third-round pick Bernhard Raimann, according to Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. Pryor has only ever started one game at left tackle in the NFL and many expected the rookie out of Central Michigan to give him a strong run for the job. Erickson goes on to say that, should Pryor not perform up to expectations, there’s a strong chance that the starting job could slip out of his grasp.
- A third-round rookie who did win the starting job is just across the division in Tennessee. Titans general manager Jon Robinson made it known last weekend that Ohio State rookie Nicholas Petit-Frere will start at right tackle to open the season, according to Kayla Anderson of WKRN News 2. Last year’s rookie offensive lineman Dillon Radunz failed to earn much of a role last season but, reportedly, did everything right this offseason. Still, Petit-Frere has effectively won the starting job and Radunz will continue to come off the bench in Year 2.
- New Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson received an impressive contract extension this week reported as a five-year, $245MM deal. The new money on the contract extension was originally reported to be $49MM per year. Those original reports failed to take the league’s new 17th-week into account when calculating the new money, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports. Wilson was entitled to two more years under his previous contract and the original new money reports included the Week 17 paychecks that really should’ve been included with the original contract. So, while still an extremely impressive payday for Wilson, his average new money is more like $48.52MM per year than $49MM.
- The Jaguars are losing a member of their front office, according to Seth Walder of ESPN. Director of strategic research & development Momin Ghaffar is leaving the team for a job outside of football. In fact, the job is “outside of sports.” This isn’t a terrible surprise as the position was one of Jacksonville’s many roles that fuse business analytics with football analytics.
The Patriots gave Gilmore a 5yr $65mil contract and got him a Ring to boot. What a POS turd. Ingrate.
2014 Darrelle Revis also did the same thing with the Pats. What a POS turd. Also ingrate.
So he can’t dislike how they handled his injury?
The Patriots gave Tom Brady so much money and 6 rings to boot. Kisses his son on the lips. What a POS turd. Likewise ingrate
It’s tough when a player is making a statement, without actually saying what he’s stating. I respect the professionalism, but don’t even talk if you aren’t going to say anything.
What exactly are the specifics of how NE handled you that you didn’t like? What was it about how they handled your injury, that brought you to the point of no return?
I almost feel like Belichick has dark secrets that players keep quiet because they won titles there with him. Almost like the casting couch atmosphere with Weinstein. I get that vibe because so many players have made it known they had problems with him, but no one ever specifies.
I doubt it was Gilmore’s idea to get any info out there. It’s more likely that he gave a relative non-answer to a question. I take more exception with the choice to present the non-answer as insight by the reporter. Wasting our time as reporting often does.
Fair. But like I said, it’s not just Gilmore. A lot of players including Brady and Gronk, have had issues with Belichick and no one ever gets specific.
Gilmore wanted his contract redone and refused to play under its current terms. There’s no excuse for leaving his team like that. It’s a lack of character and shows what kind of man he really is.