The Patriots will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008, and they will enter 2021 with question marks all over their roster, including quarterback. Star cornerback Stephon Gilmore‘s future in New England is also in some doubt.

As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter), Gilmore suffered a partially torn quad in the Pats’ loss to the Dolphins on Sunday. Luckily, there was no structural damage, and he should be recovered from surgery in sufficient time to participate in least some of the offseason program in the spring.

Whether he will be with the Patriots in the spring, however, is a different story. He pulled down Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2019, but 2020 was definitely a step back. He will have played in just 11 games this season due to injury, and Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics considered him the 59th-best CB in the league out of 124 qualified players. He did earn the fourth Pro Bowl of his career, but that was likely due to name recognition more than anything else.

Still, he will be in pursuit of a hefty contract extension this offseason. He is under club control through 2021, but after New England moved some of his 2021 salary to 2020, he is due just $7MM in base pay in 2021. Given his track record, he will doubtlessly shoot for the top of the CB market, which is currently headed by Jalen Ramsey‘s five year, $105MM pact ($71.2MM guaranteed at signing). Gilmore is four years older than Ramsey, so he might not reach those lofty numbers, but he will be in line for a significant raise.

That is perhaps why New England reportedly considered a Gilmore trade before this year’s deadline (the team also shopped him prior to the 2020 draft). Obviously, no rival club was willing to meet the Patriots’ high asking price, and as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, the expectation is that the two sides will again discuss an extension this offseason. But depending on how those negotiations go, it would seem that a trade remains a real possibility.

The Patriots want a first round pick and a player in exchange for star cornerback Stephon Gilmore, according to rival GMs who spoke with ESPN.com’s Dianna Russini (on Twitter). Teams have until 4pm ET/3pm CT on Tuesday afternoon to try and pry him loose. 

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Rumors have been swirling about the Patriots and their possible willingness to trade the 2019 AP Defensive Player of the Year. But, from the sound of it, the Patriots aren’t overly eager to part with him.

Gilmore is under club control through 2021 and will be seeking a lucrative extension. At the time of signing, Gilmore’s five-year, $65MM deal ($31MM guaranteed) made him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history. Since then, the market has shifted dramatically. Earlier this year, as Gilmore’s average annual salary slotted him outside the top 10 for CBs, the Patriots moved some money around to give him a ~$5MM “pay raise”.

This offseason, it’ll take much more than that to keep Gilmore for the long haul. The Patriots recognize that, which is why they’re willing to take calls on the star corner between now and the buzzer. Plenty of contenders would love to add Gilmore and would be willing to give him a new deal in the offseason, but it’ll cost ’em significant draft capital.

Before the early afternoon games on Sunday, the Patriots were mentioned as trade deadline buyers. A few hours later, they were clobbered by the 49ers, a sobering defeat that dropped them to 2-4 and made their deadline plans difficult to predict.

There is plenty of speculation that, if New England falls to the Bills this weekend, the Pats will look to trade away some veteran assets in exchange for draft capital. And perhaps the biggest name that could be available in a deal is star cornerback Stephon Gilmore.

The Pats reportedly shopped Gilmore before this year’s draft and during training camp, but then they gave the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year what was called a pay raise in September. As Albert Breer of SI.com writes, however, the team actually just moved $4.5MM from Gilmore’s 2021 salary to his 2020 pay. That indicated to other clubs that 2020 was going to be Gilmore’s last year in Foxborough, and if the Patriots do indeed lose to Buffalo, they should expect their phones to start ringing off the hook. According to Breer, they have already told teams that they would be willing to listen to offers for almost anyone currently on the roster.

That said, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com has not heard of any new developments on the Gilmore front (via Ricky Doyle of NESN.com). While that could certainly change at any time, there is nothing imminent just yet. Plus, talks could be complicated by the knee injury that has put Gilmore’s availability for this weekend’s divisional battle in doubt.

In addition to the high-level draft picks that a Gilmore trade would entail, the acquiring team must also be prepared to pony up a massive extension soon. Gilmore’s contract runs through the 2021 campaign, and even though he is not performing at the same level this year as he was in 2019, he will surely demand a top-of-the-market contract this offseason.

The Patriots and Stephon Gilmore recently agreed to a sizable pay raise for 2020, but the club considered trading the star cornerback before this year’s draft and during training camp, as Albert Breer of SI.com reports (via Twitter). It’s unclear who the interested teams were and what the compensation might have been, but trading Gilmore obviously would have had a significant detrimental impact on New England’s 2020 prospects.

Breer suggests that the trade discussions may have been financially motivated, as he says the Patriots’ high number of opt-outs and the corresponding salary cap room those opt-outs created “changed the equation.” New England is carrying a significant amount of dead money on its books this season, but the club still has the second-most cap room in the league right now, at roughly $31.5MM. The opt-outs certainly help that number, but the opt-outs were finalized in early August. So if trade discussions were indeed happening during training camp, perhaps there were other factors at play (like the desire to trade Gilmore while his value is at its peak).

In any event, the extra cap space did make it a little easier for the team to give Gilmore the above-referenced pay bump and bring his 2020 salary more in line with the top of the CB market. He still has two years left on the five-year contract he signed prior to the 2017 season, and the two sides could explore extension talks following the 2020 campaign.

New England certainly would have had plenty of suitors for Gilmore, who will turn 30 this week and who pulled down Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2019. The Pats still have enough juice to be competitive this season, but some believe that the team could be in for a difficult rebuild in the post-Tom Brady era, so extra draft capital would have helped that cause.

On the other hand, a rejuvenated Cam Newton could help New England return to the playoffs, and with Bill Belichick at the helm, a rebuild for the Pats might look different than it would for other teams.