Patriots Rumors: Could Stephon Gilmore trade help team land Top-10 pick?

It’s been a tad too long since New England Patriots fans were hit with a Stephon Gilmore trade rumor.

After Tom Brady left, and even this past offseason, that topic dominated a lot of the discourse for a multitude of reasons.

Why wouldn’t the Patriots clean house with some of their best, aging assets in order to expedite their mini rebuild/re-tool?

And why wouldn’t they do so with a player who has been reportedly disgruntled with his contract situation?

Perhaps the latter scenario is taking the spotlight now because Gilmore is owed just $7 million in 2021, which is a fraction of what the game’s top cornerbacks make. Given that price and his caliber of play, perhaps the Patriots can convince another team in the top 10 (Panthers, Cowboys?) to swap picks and burden them with figuring out a short-term extension for Gilmore?

That rumor is apparently gaining some steam…

Last week, when it was reported that the Panthers were entertaining talks for the No. 8 overall pick, many analysts immediately turned to the Patriots, who are reportedly hoping to land one of the top quarterback prospects.

New England holds the No. 15 overall selection, however, and there’s a good chance all of the big names will be gone by then. If the Pats can move into the top 10 without surrendering a ton of assets, then Bill Belichick will likely be ready to strike.

The Panthers might be a tough sell for Gilmore because they’re not exactly ready to contend within the next year or two … but what about the Cowboys? Dak Prescott is returning and they can stack their secondary after losing key guys the last few years.

Swapping first-round picks and moving Gilmore would allow the Pats to keep their other nine selections. They can easily trade up in the second round (they have three fourth-round picks and two sixth-round picks) in order to take another cornerback to join JC Jackson, Jonathan Jones and Joejuan Willians in the secondary. The Patriots defense wasn’t exactly great last year, but the unit did get by without Gilmore, who missed five games.

Could we be overlooking a scenario in which the Patriots keep their 15th overall pick and trade Gilmore and their second-rounder (and another pick or a future pick?) for another first-rounder? There are so many rumors surrounding the Patriots at this point, we can’t keep track.

We’ll see ya on Thursday with the official news.

Patriots: Stephon Gilmore comments on possible trade and contract situation

New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore commented on his contract situation and when he expects it to be sorted out.