All of the key players within the New England Patriots organization, including Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, seem to be on board with trading All-Pro cornerback Malcolm Butler in exchange for a third round pick.
The “Patriots trade rumors” is a rumor that has been circulating for a while. The Patriots are trading All-Pro cornerback Malcolm Butler to the Tennessee Titans.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS — The decision by the New England Patriots to trade cornerback Stephon Gilmore was unexpected on Wednesday.
Gilmore was traded to the Carolina Panthers for a 2023 sixth-round draft selection after starting the season on the physically unable to perform list due to surgery on a torn quad sustained in Week 15 of the 2020 season. He was the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time first-team All-Pro, and a four-time Pro Bowl selection.
Here’s a rundown of some of the most important points:
Why is Gilmore being dealt by the Patriots?
Salary cap, contract, and injury are the three major variables at play. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots have approximately $54,000 in salary cap space, which isn’t enough to make the changes needed to get through the remainder of the season, such as the expected signing of linebacker Jamie Collins. Gilmore’s trade frees up $5.8 million in space. However, the Patriots might have searched for room in other places. They may have been more likely to pursue those if they had been able to hammer out a revised deal with Gilmore. But, after failing to reach an agreement on a contract, the club had to ask itself a question: Could it justify paying Gilmore $400,000 a week to rehab until he was ready to play, given that he was recovering from surgery on a torn quad and was unhappy with his contract?
Why did contract negotiations come to a halt?
This season, Gilmore was set to receive a basic salary of $7 million, which is much less than market value for a player of his level. The low number was due to the fact that his five-year, $65 million deal was front-loaded with guaranteed money, as well as the club advancing him $5 million of his 2021 pay during the 2020 season. The parties looked into everything from sweetening his 2021 contract to a longer-term extension in an attempt to find a common ground, but were unable to reach a deal.
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Gilmore was born in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and the Panthers had the most cap space in the league ($19.2 million, according to Over the Cap). Their first-round selection, cornerback Jaycee Horn, is recovering from a right foot injury, so the club traded for CJ Henderson to help fill the gap. The Panthers had the salary space and location that the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year was looking for. The Green Bay Packers have a secondary need and approximately $7 million in salary space, while the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both have comparable needs and around $3 million in cap space, so Gilmore has to be considered.
What does this imply for the New England Patriots?
J.C. Jackson and Jalen Mills are their top cornerbacks, while Jonathan Jones is their best slot option. Mills was expected to go to a hybrid safety/cornerback position after Gilmore returned, so this will likely keep him on the outside. It also puts a greater focus on the development of 2021 fifth-round pick Shaun Wade (Ohio State), whom the club obtained in an early-September trade from the Baltimore Ravens. Wade has yet to play a game despite having a comparable physical profile to Gilmore in terms of length (6-foot-1, 191 pounds). Joejuan Williams, a second-round selection out of Vanderbilt in 2019, is also on the depth chart but was a healthy scratch in the Buccaneers’ 19-17 defeat on Sunday.
The “nfl news” is a question that has been asked for years. The Patriots are trading All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski to the Los Angeles Rams. Why?
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