Report: NFL GMs Consider A Stephon Gilmore Trade To Be A 'Foregone Conclusion'
BOSTON (CBS) -- CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora broke down all of the big names who could be traded during this NFL offseason. Arguably the Patriots' best player made the list.
Thrown in the mix of several big names, La Canfora wrote that a trade of cornerback Stephon Gilmore seems to be a matter of "when," not "if."
"Most GMs have considered it a foregone conclusion that the Patriots would trade top corner Stephon Gilmore this offseason and I haven't heard anything about a contract extension, so a trade still seems like an eventuality," La Canfora wrote.
This is not exactly breaking news, of course. The Patriots and Gilmore reworked his deal last summer, taking $5 million from his 2021 salary and giving him that money a year early. By necessity, such a move would seemingly require either a restructure or a trade, as a player of Gilmore's caliber won't be playing the 2021 season for a $7 million base salary.
La Canfora expects Gilmore to be one part of a very busy offseason for activity.
"Trades are in the air, the lines of communication have long been open – as the completed trades already speak to – and it's not all that difficult to envision another wave of transactions going down right as the league year opens in a few weeks," La Canfora wrote.
Gilmore was rumored to have been a potential trade candidate prior to the deadline during the 2020 season, but the Patriots kept him through the year. He suffered a partially torn quad late in the season but is expected to be healthy for the 2021 season.
La Canfora also listed a pair of former Patriots -- Chandler Jones and Brandin Cooks -- as trade candidates this offseason.