AUGUST 21: Gilmore’s Minnesota deal comes with $7MM in base value, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. The Vikings included void years in 2025 and ’26 to spread out Gilmore’s $3.5MM signing bonus. Gilmore’s 2024 cap number will check in at $4.67MM, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling. The Vikings would incur $2.33MM in dead money by letting Gilmore walk in 2025.
AUGUST 18: The Vikings have agreed to terms with veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. It will be a one-year deal worth up to $10MM, with $7MM of that total guaranteed. 
Although Minnesota had not been publicly connected to Gilmore for much of this offseason, the club brought him in for a visit earlier this month, at which point we learned that the Vikes had maintained interest in the well-traveled defender for some time. He will immediately slot in atop a CB depth chart that has some question marks.
Fourth-round rookie Khyree Jackson died tragically in a car accident back in July, and second-year contributor Mekhi Blackmon suffered a torn ACL early in training camp. The Vikings still roster Byron Murphy and slot CB Josh Metellus, and players like Shaquill Griffin, Fabian Moreau, and Nahshon Wright have been added to the mix this offseason.
Griffin, who signed a three-year, $40MM deal with the Jaguars in advance of the 2021 season following a successful stint with the Seahawks, saw his Jacksonville contract terminated after two years, thanks largely to a back injury that he sustained during the 2022 campaign. In 2023, he inked a one-year, $3.5MM contract with the Texans, but after he started six of Houston’s first nine games, he was demoted to a special teams-only role and subsequently waived. He was claimed by the Panthers, though he appeared in just two games (one start) in Charlotte. Griffin finished the year as Pro Football Focus’ 53rd-best CB out of 127 qualifiers, while Murphy graded out as the 87th-best. Clearly, then, there was room for a quality addition, and even though Gilmore is going into his age-34 season, he should provide the Vikings’ secondary a considerable boost.
Gilmore, a five-time Pro Bowler, two-time First Team All-Pro, and the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, finished as PFF’s 35th-best CB in 2023 as a full-time starter for the Cowboys. Per Pro Football Reference, Gilmore yielded an 82.7 QB rating on passes thrown in his direction, which was his highest mark since the site began tracking that statistic in 2018 but which is still a solid number. Plus, his presence will allow DC Brian Flores a little more flexibility with matchups, as Flores could move Murphy to nickel on occasion while Gilmore and Griffin — with support from Evans and Moreau — man the outside.
Despite his many accolades, Gilmore has become a bit of a nomad since he turned 30. A first-round pick of the Bills in 2012, the South Carolina product spent the first five years of his pro career in Buffalo before signing a lucrative contract with the Patriots during the 2017 offseason. After four productive years in Foxborough, he was dealt to the Panthers in October 2021, signed with the Colts during the 2022 offseason, and was traded to the Cowboys last March. He authored strong performances at each stop, however, including a top-10 finish in PFF’s rankings for his full season of work in Indianapolis in 2022. Plus, he should have some familiarity with Flores’ scheme, as Flores was New England’s de facto defensive coordinator in 2018.
The Panthers had plenty of interest in a reunion with Gilmore this offseason, and at one point, a return to Carolina appeared to be inevitable. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Panthers did make an offer to Gilmore, though Minnesota’s offer was obviously more compelling.
The Vikings finished in the bottom-10 in passing yards allowed in 2023, and the addition of Gilmore on a notable contract shows that they plan to improve upon that showing and compete for a playoff spot this season.
Going to get torched in MN. A desperation move at best.
When he becomes an immediate starter and a veteran presence for a team that isn’t supposed to make the playoffs…I would say that it isn’t desperation.
If Gilmore becomes an immediate starter what does that say about the other players on the depth chart?
It means one guy expected to compete died from a drunk driver a month ago and another guy expected to start tore his acl.
I had a feeling this would happen all offseason. They needed someone who can play press coverage for Flores’ scheme. Khyree Jackson sadly doesn’t get a chance to become that for them. Gilmore’s best days are behind him, but he was still a solid starter last year and Minnesota could use that.
You were vocal about it, and it made sense why. I agree, it was a better move than bringing Peterson back, and Flores having better press allows him to make his blitzing more effective. Now, better cornerback play hopefully means that he won’t have to do it as often, but maybe this will tide the Vikes over until they can try again to solve their secondary issues.
Thing is, Smith, who’s covered for them on the back end for some time to help alleviate some of that, will probably need an heir soon, so they’ll have to add at that position too. In the right bow, though, this was a move that looked too obvious to not happen, for the reasons that you’ve championed in previous posts.
Silly move. Who really believes Sam D will lead the Vikes to the playoffs?
Not saying it will happen, but they said the same thing about Baker Mayfield last year.
I always defer to an expert in matters such as this…link to youtube.com
Solid signing
Gilmore is a great addition. His in depth 2023 stats are very similar to his 2018 all pro season. 95 targets for 46 completions and 5 TDs permitted giving up a passer rating of 73.9 in 2018 vs. 95 target for 53 and 4 TDs permitted giving up a passer rating of 82.7. He gave up more yards per catch comparing the two but he is still a solid starter and probably a top 32 corner in the league.
They will flip him at some point