Patriots: Projecting biggest possible contract for Stephon Gilmore

The New England Patriots have a dilemma on their hands with Stephon Gilmore’s contract holdout, and they only have themselves to blame.

After all, this could’ve been prevented last offseason had they just given Gilmore a new-and-improved deal instead of borrowing some of his salary for 2021.

Now, however, the star cornerback is slated to make a measly $7 million in the final year of his contract.

That salary ranks nowhere near the top of the highest-paid list at the position, and Gilmore reminded his Twitter followers of that in a tetchy reply tweet to a post from CBS Sports that listed the wealthiest cornerbacks in terms of annual average value.

In terms of dominance in coverage, Gilmore’s been at least a top-three player at the CB position since he joined the Patriots four years ago. Unfortunately for fans, it remains to be seen whether New England is willing to give him a contract that reflects his body of work.

So how can they fix this?

What’s the richest contract the Patriots could offer Stephon Gilmore?

Back in 2017, Gilmore inked a five-year, $65 million deal with the Patriots, that included $40 million in fully guaranteed and $31 million up front at the time of signing. Needless to say, the cornerback market has changed significantly since then, as Jalen Ramsey signed for a record-setting $20 million per year and Marlon Humphrey signed for a hefty $19.5 million.

As things stand, Gilmore’s $13 million annual average has him tied for 12th with Adoree Jackson, who signed with the Giants to be their No. 2 corner. That’s nothing short of ridiculous when you look at Gilmore’s overall body of work.

During the last four seasons (56 games), the perennial world-beater has racked up 185 tackles, 11 interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns, and 56 pass breakups.

Despite splurging in free agency, New England still has a whopping $20.12 million in remaining cap space, which is good for the sixth-most in the NFL. In other words, they have plenty of financial wiggle room to catapult Gilmore into the top three or four highest-paid CBs.

The Patriots obviously shouldn’t give him a blank check, but a contract along the lines of three years for $52 million should appease both sides. Not only would it align with New England’s cap situation, but it would make Gilmore the fourth-wealthiest corner in the league.

For context, a $17.3 million annual salary would rank just behind Ramsey, Humphrey and the  underrated Tre’Davious White. While Gilmore would no doubt love to rank No. 1 on this exclusive list, he really has no business doing so entering his age-31 season. Not only that, but the average age of the three players listed ahead of him is 25.3.

If New England is reluctant to sign Gilmore through his age-33 season, they could just as easily offer him a two-year, $34.6 million deal. In any event, the bottom line is that the Pats shouldn’t, under any circumstances, go any further than a maximum value of $17.3 million per year.

Why did Patriots allow Stephon Gilmore situation to reach this point?

New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore's absence from mandatory minicamp this week only foreshadows his contract issues.